As Fate Would Have It
by Vausemeplease
Summary: Alex & Piper meet on a night out and have an instant connection...lots of love, drama, and laughs!
1. Chapter 1

"Come ON, Vause could you walk any slower? Christ, the turtle I had growing up walks faster than you." Nicky said, joking around of course but with a hint of frustration.

As the two best friends walked down the sidewalk Alex stopped to look back at a group of girls that just passed by. Nicky, already way up ahead of Alex, stopped dead in her tracks and dug in her clutch for a cigarette and a lighter. Looking back at her friend she decided to take a seat on a nearby bench. ' _No telling how long this will take,'_ Nicky thought with a sly grin.

Alex completely tuned out her best friend. _'_ _No way….it can't be..'_ she thought with a puzzled look. She walked towards the group of girls who are stopped in front of a night club getting their ID's checked to go in. Anybody that knows Alex Vause knows she's not afraid to approach anybody, ever. Alex walked up to the group and right up to the familiar face.

"Hi.." Alex said with a tilted smile.

The girl standing in front of Alex looked nothing less than a supermodel. She was tall, not taller than Alex, but still tall. Long blonde hair that she had fixed in loose curls at the ends and a short black cocktail dress with dark red pumps paired with several gold bracelets. Alex looked her up and down, slowly, not hiding the fact that she was checking her out at all. She didn't care what everyone around them thought. She was happy to see this particular familiar face.

"Alex…what are you doing here?" the blonde asked. The initial shock of seeing Alex caught her by surprise but after it all registered for her she realized who was standing in front of her and smiled cheesily-reminiscing on old memories.

The blondes name was Carmen and she and Alex had a little bit of history. Nothing too serious, that wasn't Alex's thing, but they definitely meant something to each other at one point in both of their lives. They were there for each other when nobody else was. Those late night longings for human touch resulted in mornings filled with laughter and breakfast in bed, many times. They met at an event in New York City for a charity they both feel strongly about. Carmen modeled at the charity fundraiser for a local designer and Alex attended with a few of her colleagues.

Fumbling with her black rimmed glasses Alex looked up at Carmen, "I was just about to ask you the same thing?" she said questioning the blonde.

Carmen and Alex ended their 'whatever you call it' about 9 months ago and neither of them were happy with how it ended. Carmen was ready to be fully committed to Alex and Alex was just not there at that point and time in her life. She had other things to worry about back then. But now, looking at Carmen, Alex couldn't help but have a sudden rush of feelings for her. Carmen meant a lot of things to Alex and most importantly she meant comfort. It was hard for her to connect with most people on a deeper level and Carmen made that easy.

"You should have told me you were in town, I had no idea. I would love to catch up and grab dinner if you're free? When do you go back?" Alex said looking deep at the blonde, directly into her grey eyes.

"Alex…" the blonde said, grabbing Alex's wrist and walking to the corner of the street, away from the crowd of people by the entrance.

"…..I can't have dinner with you." Carmen said, knowing the impact it would have on the brunette standing in front of her.

Continuing her rejection, "…..I want to, honestly I do but I have a fiancé now and I can't get mixed up in old times."  
Alex really wasn't surprised by Carmen's reaction at all. She was more surprised at the fact that she let herself get so worked up over seeing Carmen in the few minutes since she realized it was her walking down the street. She didn't realize this rush of emotions would come and so quickly, too. She missed the connection they had and it didn't hit her until this very moment.

"Oh," Alex said with the biggest fake ass half smile you've ever seen.

"….I totally get it. Don't worry about it!"

"I really am sorry, Alex. Another time and place maybe," the blonde said with a toothy smile.

Alex wasn't much for awkward situations, she had better things to do than waste her time, so she was quick to get out of this situation as soon as possible.

She went to hug Carmen and tried not to detect what perfume she had on or the shampoo she used that day but it was hard. Really fucking hard.

"Hey, you still have my number right? I want to know the next time you are in the city. Promise?" Alex whispered in her ear as she hugged Carmen goodbye. A two handed hug with both arms wrapped around Carmen, almost engulfing her.

"Promise," Carmen said as she pulled away but not before giving the brunette a quick peck on her cheek.

Alex smiled and turned around to walk back towards her friend.

 _'_ _Oh SHIT!'_ she thought. She completely forgot about Nicky waiting for her. She knew the short, strawberry-haired best friend of hers would be really pissed right about now. Walking back up to Nicky sitting on the bench Alex began to speak but Nicky beat her to the punch…

"WOAH! Who was that?! Oh shit, please tell me you got her number Vause," Nicky said poking Alex several times in the side of her stomach jokingly.

Alex had talked about Carmen to Nicky several times. Probably more times than she should have but Nicky was the only other person she could be completely one hundred percent honest with so Nicky knew it all. Well, she knew everything Alex was willing to tell.

"Not now, ok?" Alex said as she rolled her eyes and began walking down the street. Nicky was dragging her to a concert and Alex didn't want to go at first but now after seeing Carmen, she was ready to do anything but think about her.

Catching the disappointment in Alex's voice, Nicky refuted with, "wait a minute, did my girl finally get rejected? How many times have I told you that EVENTUALLY some girl had to say no when you asked for her number! Damn my ship finally came in!" while doing a twirl on the sidewalk with her hands up in the air.

Alex was not in the mood right now. Not for this. She knew Nicky was playing around but this just wasn't the time. She wasn't going to tell Nicky who that was at first but now she felt like she had to, to get Nicky off her back so they could just go have fun and forget all about it, forget all about their problems. Isn't that why people go out anyway?

Alex stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to let Nicky catch up to her. Turning around to face her friend, Alex said "Ok I'm going to tell you who that was. I don't want any sympathy. I don't want any questions. I'm going to tell you who that was so you'll shut the fuck up and so we can go have fun and get really drunk. Ok?" Alex said looking Nicky directly in the eyes.

Not knowing what to expect next, Nicky shook her head up and down in agreement with Alex.

"That was Carmen."

Alex let that thought sink in for Nicky for a few seconds and then turned to keep walking towards the concert.

Not another word was said about Carmen the entire night.

"Who are we seeing again?" Alex asked as they walked up to the door, mainly just to cure the awkward silence that had enveloped them since she told Nicky who it was she just saw.

"Ah come on Vause, I've told you 17 times now! Leagues! I've only been telling you about them for a few months now ya selfish asshole," Nicky said shaking her head.

Alex playfully pushed Nicky then pulled her in for a friendly hug as if to say thanks for not mentioning Carmen. She was glad Nicky understood how important it was that she stuck to her request. Nicky really was the best friend she had ever had.

The bar was really packed which made Alex happy. Tons of people and tons of alcohol always made for a fun night. There was loud music, beautiful women, what more could you want? Nicky found a round bar table with 2 chairs close to the stage and quickly ran up to it to save their spots.

"You know what I like!" Nicky called to Alex who had stopped at the bar on her way to their table. Alex looked up with a smile and a wink to let Nicky know she heard her.

Alex leaned on the bar with her arms crossed waiting for a bartender to come around. This place was packed already so getting service was going to be difficult. Just looking around the bar she had already laid her eyes on a few women she'd like to approach at some point. ' _This was definitely going to be a fun night'_ she thought with a small grin.

Nicky, growing impatient for the lack of drinks yelled out to Alex again, "Yo Vause what the hell is taking so long?!"

Alex laughed and brushed off her friend's question. She knew the answer; it was completely packed in there. Still trying to be patient but also persistent, she yelled out to one of the bartenders running around behind the bar.

"I'd like a couple drinks please buddy!" waving her money in the air like she was at a strip club.

The bartender scoffed and pointed to the crowd. Alex got exactly what he was saying but she'd been standing there for at least 5 full minutes.

"You need something to drink?" a blonde behind her asked. Alex turned to see a frazzled woman, fumbling around with her pen and order book trying to find a page that didn't already have writing on it. She dropped her pen and Alex bent down to grab it for her.

Handing it to her, Alex said "uh yeah, 4 jack and cokes please…"

The blonde bartender grabbed her pen and started writing down the order only to stop once she realized what Alex said.

"You're ordering drinks for 4 people?" the blonde bartender asked looking up at Alex.

Up until that moment Alex hadn't really looked at the woman she was talking to. ' _Wow'_ Alex said in her head while trying to conceal her outwardly grin. She was beautiful. The kind of beautiful that not everybody appreciates. The real, soft skin, beautiful teeth, long and sexy legs type of beautiful.

The blonde bartender coughed with a grin to bring Alex back to reality.

Alex snapping back to the conversation, "yeah 4 people…" with a sly grin looking directly at the blondes perfect blue eyes.

The blonde bartender smiled along with Alex and leaned in to Alex and whispered, "we'll pretend I believe you," with another smile.

She began writing down the order and asked, "What's your name? I'll bring the drinks to you but it's so crowded in here I might not be able to find you so they'll call your name if I can't!" pointing to the stage.

"It's Alex, and you are?"

The blonde bartender wrote down 'Alex' under the order looked up and saw the brunette looking at her. It was one of those moments where the world kind of slows down just for you and just for that moment. The world slowed just so they could take it in.

The blonde bartender snapped her order book shut, put it in her apron, put her pen behind her ear and answered.

"Piper," she said with a smile, still looking directly into Alex's eyes.

"Well I hope you're able to find me Piper because I've got 3 friends that are eagerly awaiting their drinks," Alex said with a small grin.

"Thanks for taking my order. I can see you guys are really swamped tonight..." Alex said, trying to extend the conversation.

"Yeah it's usually crazy busy when we have big bands playing!"

"My friend drug me here tonight, I've actually never even heard of this band before," Alex chuckled.

"You've never heard of Leagues? So that means you either you live under a rock or have a horrible taste in music…" Piper said playfully.

They both had a small laugh.

"My favorite song of theirs is Walking Backwards, there's just something about it that I've always been drawn to, you know? You know how music just sort of hits you like that sometimes? It's like just out of nowhere you have this strong connection to this song that suddenly becomes a big part of your life," Piper said, stepping one step closer to Alex so she could hear her. It was almost full capacity and it was extremely loud in there now.

Alex nodded in agreement with her and suddenly realized she loved hearing this girl talk about whatever she is passionate about. That thought brought a smile to Alex's face.

Piper, realizing where she was and that she was on the clock, "Gosh I'm sorry I've just been talking your ear off, I'll go get your drinks and get them to you asap Alex," she said as she grabbed Alex's forearm and squeezed it slightly. It wasn't much but it was enough to get Alex's attention.

Alex walked up to the table where Nicky was sitting down and jamming along with the opening band.

"Jesus, Vause where are the drinks?!"

"Chill the fuck out, they're coming! Piper is bringing them..." Alex said, looking around for Piper as she said her name.

"Piper?" Nicky asked with a questioned look on her face.

Just then, Nicky noticed a tall blonde walking their way with a tray of drinks and quickly glanced over at Alex to see a smile widen on her face.

"Ahhhh…Piper, I'm guessing?" Nicky said to Piper as she walked up to their table with a tray full of drinks. She looked to Alex and shook her head with a smile.

"Always a blonde…" Nicky said with a grin under her breath but loud enough for Alex to hear. She kicked Nicky under the table. Hard.

"OUCH! Shit, Vause!"

"Ha ha you definitely deserved that one."

"I'm glad you were able to find us in this madhouse," Alex said playfully to Piper.

"Yeah I just looked for the tall, Bettie Page with black glasses." Piper played back. "Wasn't very difficult."

Nicky rolled her eyes at the Bettie Page comment. This wasn't the first time her tall, dark haired, exquisitely beautiful best friend had been called Bettie Page.

"Aw why'd you have to go and call her Bettie Page? Her head's going to swell up to the size of this whole bar now!" Nicky said while simultaneously grabbing the drinks off the tray and setting them on the table.

Nicky could tell that Alex was about to kick her really hard under the table again so she excused herself to go look around the bar for somebody that caught her eye earlier.

"Sit down and have a drink with me," Alex slyly said to Piper.

She has always been good at pretty much everything when it comes to getting who she wants. Alex has never had a problem with rejection, instead her problem is that too many keep calling back or keep showing up at her apartment. She learned to not give out her number as much or to go to their place instead of hers. Nicky always gave her shit about that.

Piper sat and immediately moaned at the released tension in her feet. She had been working all day and her feet were killing her.

"I'm really not supposed to be doing this but it's so busy in here they won't ever know," she said with a small laugh and took a drink of one of the jack and cokes.

"I'll tell them I asked you to! I am a paying customer after all."

Piper smiled and took another drink and slid her chair closer to Alex's so they could hear each other talk.

"I've always wondered what it felt like to sit this close to the stage and enjoy a drink…" Piper said.

"It's less about where you sit and more about who you're with in my opinion," said Alex looking directly at Piper. She saw a stray hair fall down in Pipers face so she pushed it back behind her ear then rested her hand on the back of Piper's chair.

"Who _are_ you?" Piper asked with a small smile.

Alex laughed, "I already told you my name. What do you mean?"

"Tell me something nobody else in the world knows…." Piper flirted, leaning into Alex.

"Ohh I don't know if we're there yet, Piper," said Alex with a laugh.

Piper looked deep in Alex's eyes and this overwhelming sense of calmness and trust came over Alex. They both felt like they'd known each other for years.

"Just one thing, come on I'm about to have to go back to work and then we'll never see each other again. Live a little, Al" Piper said with a grin.

"And now we have nicknames for each other? Okay Pipes….." Alex said leaning in to Pipers ear.

"I've wanted to kiss you ever since I laid eyes on you."

Piper definitely brought this upon herself. She was flirting and laughing right along with Alex. But she wasn't prepared for that. She wasn't used to people opening up so quickly to her. She wasn't used to it at all but she liked knowing Alex trusted her enough to tell a stranger something like that.

"Really?" Piper said, grinning.

"Mhmm" Alex replied. "Now you're turn, kid." Her arm around Pipers chair tightened just a little.

Piper looked around for a second as if in deep thought trying to figure out something to say.

"Okay here it goes…." leaning into Alex a little more.

"Once, in 5th grade, I cheated on a spelling test. I mean really cheated, wrote down the words on a small square cut out of paper and everything. I didn't get caught but the whole thing scared me to death and I never did it again." Piper said, seeming to let out an extra breath and feeling refreshed.

Alex busted out laughing.

"I tell you I want to kiss you and your big secret is that you cheated on a test when you were in 5th grade? You are absolutely adorable," Alex said with hearts in her eyes.

She reached over and kissed Piper on her cheek. Piper smiled and Alex could feel it as she kissed her.

The opening band was finishing up on stage and Piper realized she better get back to work before she lost her job.

She looked at Alex with a smile, "I don't want to but I better go, I kind of need a job and would be homeless if I got fired. Although getting fired over spending time with you would _almost_ be worth it." Piper said with a toothy smile.

Alex was having such a great time she hated to see Piper go but she understood.

"Find me after the concert and I'll give you your tip for being our bartender tonight," Alex said flirtatiously.

Before she knew it, Piper smiled at her and was gone, lost in the crowd of people lining up around the stage for the band that was about to come on.

Nicky came back to the table, just in time, with someone wrapped around her arm. ' _Figures_ ' Alex thought with a grin. Nicky was just as good at picking up girls as Alex was. She had a way of using humor as flirting that Alex hadn't really nailed down yet.

"Hi!" Alex said with a smile to Nicky and her new "friend".

"Alex this is Lorna, Lorna this is Alex," introducing the two.

"Pleasure!" Lorna said, sticking out her hand for Alex to kiss, with the thickest New Jersey accent you could imagine.

Alex didn't really realize it but her and Piper had finished off all four drinks while they talked. She was glad that Nicky not only brought a friend but brought refills and shots, too.

The three of them drank and laughed and danced and sang and partied all throughout the concert. Alex was thankful for her new friend Lorna who helped Alex with the lyrics. A new song came on and it started out with a repetitive single bass guitar note. Nicky and Lorna were off to the side giggling and wrapped up in each other. When they finally came up for air, Lorna recognized the song and grabbed Nicky's hand and ran over to Alex.

"I LOVE THIS SONG!" Lorna exclaimed, dancing around and singing with Nicky, having an absolute blast.

Alex didn't know what it was but there was something she liked about this song.

"What is this one called? I love it!" Alex asked Lorna.

"Walking Backwards," a familiar voice came out of nowhere behind Alex.

As Alex turned she realized it was Piper and she had a huge feeling of happiness fall all over her.

Piper walked directly up to Alex, put her hands on both sides of her face and stared deep into her eyes. For a few seconds they just stared at each other then all of a sudden they were kissing intensely. Not a simple or elegant kiss, this was intense and deep and hot and had the attention of everyone around them. They didn't care. They both felt a spark from the second they laid eyes on each other. Alex had her hands in Pipers hair while Piper had hers on Alex's face, still. They were so caught up in the kiss that they didn't even realize the song had ended and the next one was starting. When they stopped kissing they both were out of breath.

Trying to catch their breath and trying to stay as close to each other as possible, Alex was the first to speak, "Well, I wasn't expecting that…" Alex grinned while kissing Piper again. This time slowly and more intently.

With the concert over and the bar now closing, the two women stood still in their close embrace. Neither of them had any idea as to what it was, but something brought them together that night and they both felt it. They stood there kissing and giggling as the lights came on in the bar.

"Ughhhh I need to go help clean up…." Piper whined, definitely not wanting to leave Alex's embrace.

"Don't leave without giving me your number," Alex said pulling the blonde in for a hug.

"I have a boyfriend." Piper blurted out.

Suddenly, everything changed for both women.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks so much for the love! Don't forget to leave a comment and let me know what you think, appreciate it!

* * *

Alex wasn't sure what to think, what to feel in that moment. After all she had JUST met this girl and then of all sudden everything changes. She was mad at herself for expecting anything from anybody anymore. Suddenly the disappointing feelings from Carmen earlier that night came rushing back. Her head was swirling and she realized she had been dazed out ever since Piper broke the news.

Alex dropped her hands from their embrace and stepped back, away from the blonde.

"Ohh..." Alex mustered up the only reaction she could come up with at that moment.

"I'm sorry for the blunt delivery..." Piper said putting her hands to her temple and looking down, obviously as frustrated as Alex in this moment.

They stood like this for a few seconds then the blonde looked up at Alex and walked closer to her.

"I was already considering breaking up with him before tonight and now..." she said with a sideways grin, "…now i'm considering it even more, honestly," looking up at Alex directly into her perfect eyes.

Piper put her hands around Alex's waist as she finished her remark.

Alex had a confused look on her face and was definitely in a swirl of emotions over everything that had happened that night. ' _This is ridiculous'_ she thought. They had just met a few hours ago and now Alex was already disappointed. She blamed her current feelings on loneliness and alcohol. Surely those two are to blame for this swirl of emotions in her head.

"So let me get this straight..." Alex said, once again stepping back, away from Piper.

"You currently have a boyfriend, but you're considering leaving him?" Alex scoffed.

She doesn't do drama and that is exactly what this sounds like. Angry boyfriend, hot girlfriend, then throw in the 'side-chick,' that would be Alex. No. Nope. No way. Not doing this! There were plenty of other perfectly good looking women in this bar tonight, ' _Why did I have to choose this one_?' Alex thought to herself. This whole- getting feelings for a complete stranger- thing was not typical of Alex. Making out at a bar which led to waking up next to a complete stranger, that was more like Alex but there were never feelings developed. She loved the release the strangers gave her then the satisfaction of not having to deal with the drama of a relationship.

"I don't do drama, Piper. I'm sure he's a perfectly great guy! Stick with him and stick to not making out with people that aren't your boyfriend. That might help your relationship just a little," Alex said with a definite tone of sarcasm. She was obviously frustrated and now the blonde knew it.

Alex didn't ever want to get caught up in a relationship that had more than two people in it. ' _A waste of time!'_ she thought. She liked being the only one they called when they were upset and the only one they wanted when they were craving human touch. She would never admit it but she always had a hint of jealousy in her relationships. She was confident but there were definitely times she felt jealous. That's normal, right?

"I understand," Piper replied, shaking her head and now backing away from the tall brunette.

"Well...I really enjoyed work tonight because of you." She said with a grin, hoping that would crack the hard exterior of Alex.

Alex wasn't buying it. She was just ready to get out of there. _'Where the hell is Nicky?'_ she thought and quickly looked around for her best friend. She needed her right. fucking. now.

Piper noticed she had lost all the attention of Alex at this point. She walked up to her and gave her a goodbye hug.

"Seriously thanks for tonight, I needed it.." Piper said as she kissed Alex's cheek.

Alex nodded as she walked away in search of Nicky.

Piper, disappointed, walked back to the bar and began cleaning up the mess from their customers that night.

Most of the bar had cleared out at this point so it was easy for Alex to spot Nicky with that crazy, wild strawberry-colored hair.

"Where the fuck have you been? We're leaving right now," Alex hissed.

"Woah ey slow down Vause, where's the fire?" Nicky said with a loud laugh, clearly she'd been having a great time all night.

"I was with Lorna, alright! Sorry I didn't give you more attention tonight but you know my type is about 3 feet shorter than you, ya tree!" Laughing hard and loud again.

Alex couldn't help but smile and shake her head which turned into a short laugh.

"I got her number! Can't wait to call that one. I think she actually might not be crazy like the other girls I usually meet in the streets," said Nicky with a smile and a roll of her eyes.

Alex was happy for her friend but suddenly felt the burn of disappointment again.

"Yo wait where's Piper? Last time I saw you two were so close I couldn't tell who was who..." Nicky said poking her friend in the side jokingly.

"She had to go back to work, can we leave now?"

Nicky knew her best friend more than that. She'd been out with Alex a hundred times and never saw the connection Alex had with Piper before. Every other time they went out together it ended with Alex running up to Nicky telling her to find her own way home and that she'd text her tomorrow. Nicky always knew what that meant; she was leaving with some beautiful stranger she had just met. So when Nicky caught on that something happened between them tonight she had to figure out what it was.

"Vause, what happened?" as they walked out the front door of the bar.

Alex didn't want to jump in a cab. She wanted to walk and clear her head with her best friend and enjoy the cool breeze of the early morning air.

Nicky hurriedly tried to catch up to her best friend to get the story.

"It's nothing, can we just walk and not talk?" Alex said, pleading her friend.

"Alex!"

 _'_ _There's that familiar voice again_ ,' Alex thought. She hated it in that moment but it made her smile, her name coming from that perfect voice.

"Alex!" again, as Piper ran up behind the two women now stopped on the sidewalk.

Alex turned to see Piper standing right behind her, breathing heavily from her sprint.

"Piper seriously, let it go!" Alex scoffed and turned to keep walking down the sidewalk. She hated being so mean to someone she just met but she felt that the harshness was needed. She definitely felt something for this stranger but she was not about to get caught up in the drama.

Nicky, seeing the tension between the two, walked over to the nearest bench, sat down and lit a cigarette. Something that seemed to be a bit of a theme for this crazy night.

Piper followed Alex a few steps, grabbed her forearm and pulled her back to stop her from walking any further. Alex remembered earlier in the night, when they first met, how Piper grabbed her forearm then, playfully. This time Alex felt the same thing but with more intensity.

"What, Piper.." She was willing to listen but not willing to compromise on her decision. She was NOT getting caught up in the drama.

"Listen, I know this is crazy. I know how girls like you are. You're tall, dark and sexy as hell and you're used to going home with whoever you want to go home with each night. I get that. And i'm sorry that I ruined the good time we were having. But I started feeling something for you and I couldn't let it go any further without being perfectly honest with you. I don't do that," pointing back towards the bar.

"I don't go up to strangers and kiss them and crave to be held in their arms. But I felt something the moment I saw you and I know you did, too. This whole night is insane!" Piper concluded, with a sarcastic laugh and holding her hands up to her forehead.

Alex let out a small laugh too, agreeing to the fact that this night was absolutely insane. Everything about it.

"Totally insane," she said with a smile and let out a big breath.

"You're beautiful, Piper, I mean, insanely beautiful and I really loved getting to know you but I don't do drama. I don't do complicated. You're right about me-I only do one night stands. But not with people that are in a relationship. That's just not..."

Piper cut her off. "My boyfriend has been sleeping with my best friend..." she said softly, eyes still locked on Alex.

Alex wasn't sure what to say or do. She was speechless for sure.

"...and he thinks I have no idea!" Piper let out with a cry. Alex had no other reaction other than to pull the blonde in for a close hug. She wrapped both arms around her and rested her chin on the top of her head.

Nicky noticed the embrace of the two women and rolled her eyes with a shake of her head.

"I'm so sorry Pipes...that's horrible..." _'How could he do that to her?'_ she thought. She had no choice but to feel sorry for Piper. She also had a rush of feeling protective over her, too.

Piper sniffled and Alex let go of her embrace with the blonde.

"I've known about it from the beginning..." she said, wiping under her eyes.

"...they think they're secretive but i've known the whole time. I've been planning to confront them both but every time I go to say something I get scared. He's the only real relationship i've ever had. She's the closest friend i've ever had. I almost said something last night but chickened out at the last moment," taking a deep breath to calm herself down a little.

"And then I saw you tonight and it just hit me suddenly, out of nowhere that it IS possible for me to move on from both of them. I don't want to be with someone that wants someone else, too. I want to have one person to call when i'm upset and the same person to go to when i'm craving human touch..."

Alex grinned, _'If only she knew that's exactly how I felt too_.'

"I'm so sorry they're doing that to you…nobody deserves to be put though that," Alex said while grabbing Piper's hands, entwining their fingers.

Alex realized this was something she'd be stupid to pass up on. Piper was exquisitely beautiful and they had a great time tonight getting to know each other. She definitely wanted to get to know the blonde more but only after she cut ties with her current dead-beat piece of shit boyfriend. She still couldn't get over the thought of anybody picking somebody over Piper. ' _What a dumbass_ ,' Alex thought.

"I really enjoyed getting to know you tonight….how about I'll give you my number and you let me know when you're ready for me to take you out and show you the real way you're supposed to be treated…" Alex said with a sly grin, staring deep into the blondes blue eyes.

"I'm ready right now," the blonde said with a whisper, inching closer to Alex's face.

Alex smiled, "I don't think so, Piper, not yet. Not tonight. Believe me, I want nothing more right now than to take you back to my apartment and really show you how I feel about you but I can't do that while you have a boyfriend. It wouldn't feel right…"

This was one of the hardest things Alex had ever had to do. Here was this beautiful girl, practically begging Alex to take her back to her apartment and Alex had to turn her down. For now anyway.

"Oh, I bet it would definitely feel right and all kinds of other things," Piper said, teasing the brunette.

"Oh man, this is hard!" Alex said laughing but obviously frustrated. She kissed Piper on her forehead.

"Give me your phone so I can add my number…."

"Fine, but you can expect a text from me almost immediately…" Piper said, handing her the cell phone.

Alex clicked the home button on Pipers phone and saw the background picture of her and a dark-haired man.

Rolling her eyes she pretty much guessed that was the 'boyfriend of the year'. Piper noticed Alex's reaction and quietly noted, "Yeah, that's Larry…."

"His name is Larry?!" Alex said with a laugh.

Piper smiled and then a laugh broke out for her, too.

After Alex put in her number she handed the phone back to Piper.

"Well, when you break the bad news to "Larry" let me know and I'll take you out to celebrate."

"You can't take me out without asking first…" the blonde said with a sideways smile.

"You aren't getting asked out until you're single," Alex replied bluntly.

"Well, I better solve that issue before somebody else figures out how amazing you are and takes you before I can get my hands on you."

"Looking forward to you putting your hands on me, for sure!" Alex said giving her a peck on the cheek.

Alex couldn't believe the instant connection she felt with the girl. They had only known each other a few hours but she swore it felt like they knew each other their entire lives. That feeling was so comforting to Alex, she didn't have that connection with many people in her life so she knew this was something special.

They hugged and kissed only slightly as to avoid another public make out session. Not that they were opposed to that but Alex was scared that if she let herself fall back into that with Piper right now, she wouldn't be able to stop. There was something about this blonde that drew Alex in and she absolutely loved it.

"Let me know when the damage has been done," Alex said with a sarcastic smile.

"I told you I'm going to text you immediately…" the blonde said as she pulled out her phone and began writing a text message to her new contact.

Alex laughed, "Ok kid, I'll talk to you later on," and with a wink she was gone.

Piper walked back to the bar to grab her keys and went home. She didn't live with Larry and was especially glad about that fact right now. She went straight home, poured a big glass of wine and thought about the most beautiful woman in the world that she just met. She never sent the text earlier that she was typing but thought seriously about sending one now.

Alex and Nicky got back to Nicky's apartment and they were still talking about Piper.

"I just CAN'T believe she has a boyfriend and was going after you like you were fresh meat, Vause! She had googly eyes on you all night, I saw her! What kind of a hoe does that when she has a boyfriend? Jesus, you bring out the bad in everybody, Casanova" Nicky said grabbing a beer for both women from the fridge.

"Piper's different than that, Nicky…" Alex replied.

"Oh yeah, totally different!" Nicky said sarcastically.

"She had her tongue down your fucking throat Vause and meanwhile she has a shrimp of a boyfriend at home! Or at least you called him a shrimp, I haven't really seen the poor bastard."

"He IS a shrimp! She deserves so much better. He's a fucking piece of shit, Nicky. He's cheating on her with her best fucking friend! Fucking asshole, man…."

Nicky could tell Alex was getting worked up so she shoved the beer towards her friend and walked outside to sit on their balcony.

Alex followed her friend and sat in the chair next to her.

"I don't know, we'll see if she actually follows through and dumps him," Alex said, trying to hide her hope in that statement but it was hard. She really wanted Piper to lose Larry so she could show her how she really deserved to be treated, like a princess.

"Alright Vause I'm gonna be straight with ya for a second…"

Alex looked at Nicky with a questioning glance, "you're not straight, Nicky," she said with a big grin.

"Shut the fuck up I'm trying to be serious damnet!"

Alex laughing, "Ok ok! Shoot."

"You were so torn up about Carmen earlier…"

Alex looked off at the mention of her name and took a big swig of her beer.

"Just hear me out….you were so torn up about that fucking gorgeous supermodel chick. You won't admit it but I can tell, you miss her. Or maybe you miss what yall had. Then we get to the bar and you meet Piper. I swear to God Vause I have never seen you the way I saw you with Piper earlier. You know those annoying fucking couples that have been together forever and you hate seeing them together because they're so annoying and up each other's assholes but then again they're really cute and you can tell they're fucking meant to be? The real deal shit?"

"What are you getting at, Nicky…" Alex said, not needing an explanation as to how perfect she and Piper looked together earlier than night. She knew it, she felt it too.

"You're ready for a relationship buddy….I know you pride yourself on living the single life, sleeping with all the hot blondes of the world only to wake up and never see them again but I can tell man, you're wanting something more than that now. Something changed tonight with you and I'm just saying it was good to see you happy…." Nicky said, done with her speech and tired of the sappiness. She took a big swig of her beer.

Alex wasn't sure what to say. She couldn't believe it was all that obvious to Nicky, too.

"I am _so_ fucked..." Alex finally said after a few minutes.

"Yeah Vause, you are…" Nicky replied with a friendly slap on the back.

They sat on the balcony overlooking the city and talked and laughed and drank and just enjoyed each other's company. After a while Alex finally decided it was time to go in for the night.

"I guess I'll crash on your couch if that's ok. Hey whatever happened with you and Lorna? Why didn't you go home with her?"

"I'm not like you Vause, I don't have to sleep with someone immediately once I find them attractive!" Nicky said with a laugh, both women knowing that was a bunch of bullshit.

"She has an early flight so she had to go home. She's going on vacation with her family somewhere. Hey! We should do that Vause, why don't we go on a vacation? Forget about all these silly bitches and go get caught up in some foreign women!"

Alex smiled widely, "Sounds like a plan!" giving Nicky a high five.

Alex took her empty beer bottle back inside and went to throw it away. She grabbed her phone from the island in Nicky's apartment and headed for the couch. Tossing her boots off she checked her phone to see if any new numbers had texted her.

One new message from an unknown number.

Alex smiled and tapped to open the message as she laid down on the couch.

Piper- Made it home safely, in case you were wondering

Alex debated on whether to write back or not. It had been an hour since Piper texted her and she might be asleep by now. She'd hate to wake her up. But she hated even more the thought of going to bed with a message from Piper and not writing back.

Alex- still up? Glad you made it home, kid

Piper- Was asleep but love waking up to a text from you

Alex- ugh, sorry! I debated on whether to write you back or not in case you were already asleep

Piper- don't be sorry, I'm glad you did. I was afraid you weren't going to say anything until I sent you the "it's done" text ;)

Alex- thought about that too, you know my rule

Piper- your rule is no fun. Hated coming back to my apartment alone

Alex- believe me, it was hard for me to send you away, alone. All in good time, babe

Piper- babe? We're already there? Wow I'm blushing

Alex- I'm good at making girls blush

Piper- you've had me blushing since the moment I looked at those beautiful green eyes, babe

Alex- you're gonna be the death of me

Piper- looking forward to it ;)

Alex looked up and realized it was 4:15am and realized she had to be at work in a few hours.

Alex-need to go to sleep but don't want to put the phone down, the struggle is real right now ;)

Piper- understandable struggle. I am a pretty great conversationalist

Alex- the best

Piper- quit making me blush or I'm gonna have to hunt you down. This is torture

Alex- good night blondie, was one of those nights where everything changes, I think. All because of you

Piper- blushing again. Just from now on go ahead and consider me always blushing. Goodnight, Al

Alex smiled widely and put her phone down. She was passed out asleep in just a few minutes.

Alex woke up to her alarm way too soon. _Fuck, it's already 8?_ She knew she'd be running late but she didn't care today. Last night was one for the books and she was still living off of the high it gave her.

Alex was an event organizer for a company in the city and really enjoyed her job. She had a side job too where she made an exquisite amount of money but didn't consider that her full time job so she went out and got a real job.

She made it into the office just in time to get a glare from her boss, Linda.

"Sorryyyy Linda! I'm so sorry, I swear I'll make it up to you!"

Alex knew Linda loved her and always forgave her when she messed up but apologizing in dramatic form in front of the whole office was sure to get her some extra bonus points.

Linda grinned and waved for Alex to come into her office.

"It's fine Alex, don't worry about it sweetie. Do you want to go out with me to check the venues for that ACCO charity event?"

{ACCO- American Childhood Cancer Organization}

"Absolutely, just let me check in with Martin and see if I have anything planned today."

Martin was Alex's "secretary" if you could call it that. She didn't even need a secretary and told Linda that on several occasions. Linda wanted Alex to feel important though so she gave her a secretary and a company car that Alex rarely used. Martin was a handsome guy; about 6 feet tall, always tan and had long dark hair that he mostly wore in a bun since that was the new trend. He was super witty and funny so Alex loved being around him.

"Ok sweetie, email me when you're ready to go." Linda said to Alex as she headed to her office.

"Hey bud," Alex said to Martin.

"Alex hey! Wow you look like you had a fun night," Martin said with a smile.

"Shut up, it was very fun actually!" Alex replied

"Knowing you, I don't doubt that at all…so today you've got that meeting with the owner of that bar in Brooklyn that's trying to expand their business…"

"Martin, I told you I'm not meeting with that creep again!"

"Pleaseeeeeee Alex! I owe him a favor, a big favor and you'd really be helping me out."

Alex visibly rolled her eyes as she walked into her office.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I owe you!" Martin called out to her as she sat down at her desk.

"Yeah, yeah…" she said with a small grin.

She turned her computer on, answered a few emails, returned a few calls, and confirmed the meeting time with Martin's creepy friend. A few hours later she was ready to head out with Linda. Alex turned off her computer and shut everything down. She grabbed her phone and was on her way to Linda's office when her phone went off. It was a text message. From a certain blonde.

Piper: it's done, babe

Alex smiled the biggest, cheesiest mother fucking smile you've ever seen.


	3. Chapter 3

Alex didn't really know how to react. She was just walking into Linda's office when she read the text again. Just to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

She wasn't.

"Wow who's the reason for that big smile?" Linda asked, definitely wanting the entire story but Alex wasn't willing to divulge up any information. Not yet.

Alex looked up from her phone, trying to contain her smile but failing miserably, "It's nothing! Ready to go?" as she put her phone in her back pocket.

They were jumping into Linda's car a few minutes later when Alex realized she never even said anything back to Piper. She was distracted by Linda talking about her daughter but zoned out and sent Piper a message back.

Alex- you ok?

Piper- I will be when I get to see you

Alex- shrimp boy ok?

Piper- nope

Alex- that's too bad. You free tonight?

Piper- is that you asking me on a date?

Alex- haha you'll know when I ask you out

Piper- ugh, was getting my hopes up

Linda kept talking about her daughter while driving but Alex didn't care. That same cheesy smile was back and wasn't going anywhere for a while. She was thrilled to be talking to Piper.

Alex- so are you free tonight or not?

Piper- wow, I like this determined side of you

Alex- answer my question and you might see a few other sides of me, soon

Piper- I told a friend I'd grab drinks later

Alex- cancel your plans, I have a place I want to show you

Piper- that's a little frightening, do I need to bring my mace just in case?

Alex- wouldn't hurt!

Piper- ha ha you're hilarious

Alex- all you need is yourself and a penny

Piper- ok now I'm definitely scared. Canceled my plans btw. Hope it's worth it ;)

Alex- it will be, I'll send you the place and time to meet me at later on. Gotta get back to work babe, xo

As Linda pulled up to the venue she was still finishing the same story.

"…and I swear we were laughing so hard we couldn't breathe!" Linda laughed, concluding her super long story about a night out she had with her daughter.

"I really think yall should hang out sometime, yall are the same age! I know you would get along great"

This wasn't the first time Linda tried to get Alex to hang out with her daughter. Linda was almost like a mother figure to Alex so she knew they would get along just fine, that wasn't the issue. She had seen pictures of her daughter, Megan, in her office and she was absolutely gorgeous. Like, breathtakingly gorgeous. _'_ _Not going down that road with my boss's daughter_ ,' she thought. Alex had worked for Linda for almost 4 years now and absolutely loved it. They really worked well together. Linda had been there for Alex when she needed someone to step up and play a much needed role in her life. Alex would always be grateful to her for that. She planned on hanging out with Megan at some point so Linda would quit bringing it up so she decided to go ahead and get her number.

"Yeah I've been meaning to get her number from you so we can go grab a drink sometime!" Alex replied, trying to keep her boss happy.

"Here, go ahead and put it in your phone before I forget, 283-555-4229."

Alex typed in her new contact and saved it. ' _I'll text her later on'_ she thought.

By the time Linda and Alex were done checking out the venue Alex realized she was beyond late to her meeting with Martin's friend Sam, the creepy bar owner from Brooklyn. Alex had already met him once, briefly, in her office. He was there speaking with Martin when Alex just happened to walk by. They didn't interact very much but what she was able to get off of his vibe is that he is a homophobic creepy old man that was really unhappy in his life. He seemed to be dumping all of his 'problems' onto him so Alex stepped in to alleviate some of the burden from Martin. They only spoke for a few minutes but it was long enough for Alex to determine she didn't want him in her office any more. She didn't hold that back from Martin either so she was surprised when he brought Sam up and begged Alex to meet up with him.

"Oh shit, I need to call Martin to try to reschedule my meeting with Sam," Alex said as the two women climbed back into Linda's car.

Martin wasn't happy but it was already almost 5 and Alex had grand plans tonight she was not going to put off to spend time with that creep.

As she hung up with Martin she remembered she hadn't texted Piper the time or place yet.

Alex- know where Bethesda Terrace is?

Piper- absolutely!

Alex- meet me at the fountain at 7, don't forget your penny

Piper- not forgetting my mace, either :)

Alex was so excited about tonight. She wasn't considering it a date but it may as well have been one. She smiled and put her phone up as her and Linda got out of the car and walked back into their building.

"Seriously whatever has you smiling so big today, I support it," Linda said with a big grin as she opened the door for Alex.

"It's nothing right now, if it becomes something you'll be one of the first people I tell, I promise" Alex replied with a half smile.

Alex hurried back up to her office to grab her keys and dart out the door. It was 5:30 now and the office was a ghost town. Nobody really stuck around past 5 if Linda wasn't in the office so everyone was already gone. Alex was grateful because she didn't want to receive the scolding she knew would be coming from Martin for putting off that meeting.

* * *

Piper was very thankful to have the night off. She had a harder time ending things with Larry than she originally anticipated. Not that she wanted to stay with him, she was definitely happy about breaking up with him, but she never realized how upset he would be at the situation, which in turn made her more upset, too. She was back at her apartment now, getting ready for her 'unofficial date'. She tried on four different outfits and then decided to go with the original one; a red and purple flow-y summer dress she bought to wear on a trip she and Larry were planning. ' _Not gonna need this dress for that trip anymore,'_ she thought to herself then let out a small grin. She was proud of herself for finally sticking up to Larry. She still needed to confront her ex-best friend about it, too but didn't have time for that today. She knew Larry would break the news to her so she tried to let herself forget about it for the night. She was particularly excited about seeing Alex again. It scared her that she felt this enormous connection with someone that should still be considered a stranger but she wasn't about to play oblivious to the connection they already had. She paired her dress with black flats and went downstairs to see if her roommate approved before heading out the door. Her roommate was standing in the kitchen, finishing up cooking his dinner which made the apartment smell tremendously well. Piper loved it when he cooked because of the aroma it produced throughout the apartment. She walked up to the tall, dark, and handsome man that was dancing around the kitchen to the music he had playing.

"You know, I'm tempted to cancel my plans tonight to stay here and eat with you!" Piper said, looking at the delicious food he had been preparing. She knew she was lying as soon as that statement left her lips, she wouldn't dream of canceling her plans with Alex.

The man spun around and laughed. Looking at Piper he let out a whistle that made Piper blush. She tried to dress up tonight and look good for Alex so she was glad her roommate noticed.

"Wow! Somebody's heart is getting broken tonight! Hot mama," he said with a wink as he turned back to the stove.

"Well, that kind of already happened today…" Piper replied with a tilt of her head.

"OH! You did it? Today? Already? Details!"

Piper let out a small laugh, "I don't have time right now but I promise I'll tell you the whole story later!"

"Where exactly are you going, looking like that, and newly single?" he turned to look at her with a tilt and his eyes wide open.

"Oh, that's a story too…" she said with a small grin.

"You and your stories! What am I going to do with you," He was done cooking now so he put the food on a plate and was putting the used dishes into the sink.

Piper smiled and looked down at her dress, "you really think this looks nice?" she knew he would understand and would know how important this outfit choice was but she really didn't have time to tell him the story, she was scared about running late.

"Honey you look like a million bucks," he said with a quick peck on her cheek.

"I swear if I wasn't gay I'd eat you for dinner!" He quipped, with a loud laugh. Piper laughed too and gave him a hug goodbye.

"I don't know if I'll be back tonight, don't wait up," she said with a big sideways smile as she grabbed her clutch.

"Wow! Somebody is getting lucky tonight and it isn't me! I'm sad now," he let out with a laugh.

"You and I both know you could have any man on the street right now! You are too picky," she replied with a roll of her eyes.

"Bye Pipes, see you later on….er, tomorrow I guess," as he playfully patted her on her butt.

"Bye Martin," as she shut the door behind her.

* * *

Alex got to the fountain a little early and was surprisingly nervous. She never got nervous when meeting up with someone but this someone was different. She also had never brought someone here other than Nicky. This place has a special significance in Alex's life and she wanted to share that with Piper to help get her mind off whatever she was feeling about the breakup with the shrimp. She sat on a bench and watched the people nearby with a smile, thinking about the conversation she had just had with Nicky.

 _Alex was getting ready at her apartment when she heard a knock at the door. She didn't even have time to leave her room to go open it before it flung open and there was her crazy haired best friend._

 _"_ _Yo Vause, what are we doing tonight? I was thinking we could hit up that one bar with all the sexy ladies, sound fun?" as she went to Alex's fridge and grabbed a cold beer._

 _"_ _I have plans Nicky!" Alex yelled from her bedroom closet._

 _"_ _Woah, what! No you don't!" Nicky replied with a sarcastic laugh._

 _"_ _Don't act like you have another friend out there that you're hanging out with! We both know most people hate you, ya sarcastic asshole"_

 _"_ _It's not a friend…" Alex called back. Desperately trying to figure out which shirt to wear._

 _"_ _Oh shit is it blondie? You're already taking her out? Thought she had shrimp boy?" Nicky called as she took a big drink of the beer in her hand._

 _Alex decided on wearing her black skinny jeans and her red v-neck shirt. She paired it with her black boots and of course, her black rimmed glasses._

 _"_ _AY, carumba!" Nicky said with a roll of her tongue as Alex walked out of her bedroom._

 _"_ _Shut the fuck up," Alex said as she walked into the kitchen._

 _"_ _ok ok, you look nice man! Blondie is a very lucky woman to not have to wake up next to shrimp boy anymore" she said sarcastically._

 _Alex laughed, "I gotta go! I'll tell you the story later on I promise"_

 _Alex was sure not to forget her penny and grabbed an extra one from the counter just in case Piper forgot hers.  
_ _"_ _Wait a minute, where are you taking her?"_

 _"_ _It's not a date!" Alex snapped._

 _Looking at the pennies Alex had just picked up, "Oh yes it fuckin is if you're taking her there! I had no idea you two were so serious already!" Nicky said jokingly but was serious, too._

 _"_ _Fuck off, Nicky" Alex said as she playfully pushed her best friend._

 _"_ _I'm happy for you! Ok ok I'll leave but I want all of the details tomorrow and I mean it Vause!" as she chugged the rest of her beer and threw the bottle away._

 _"_ _Yeah I don't want to be late so I'm leaving right now…"_

 _"_ _Have fun tonight,Fabio" Nicky said with a wink as she walked out the front door._

 _"_ _I'll give you the details tomorrow!" Alex yelled as Nicky walked down the stairs._

Alex looked up and laughed thinking about the conversation between her and her best friend. She was so thankful for Nicky's friendship; it meant the world to her. She always felt like there was at least one person in the world that would always be on her side, and that was Nicky.

Alex looked at her watch, fiddled around on her phone and then looked back up to people watch a little more. She did this for about 15 minutes until she saw her.

Walking from across the other side of the fountain was Piper, _'_ _wow'_ Alex thought. Piper was beautiful last night but she had her hair up and her work clothes on. Now, seeing her with her hair down and all dressed up, Alex was blown away at her effortless beauty. Piper hadn't spotted Alex yet and Alex watched her as she walked closer and closer to the fountain, taking in her beauty and feeling unbelievably lucky to be in the presence of her for the night.

Alex stood up and walked closer to the fountain and closer to Piper with a small grin. She couldn't help it anymore. Seeing Piper really made her skip a few breaths and she couldn't have been more ok with that. She knew something special was going to conspire from this. She just hoped neither one of them screwed it up.

Piper, looking around, finally laid her eyes on Alex. She was so blown away by her that her mouth gaped open a little as she stared at the brunette walking towards her. She remembered her being extremely sexy and beautiful but that didn't compare to what she was staring at right now. She couldn't believe someone that perfect was walking towards her and that she got to spend the night in her presence.

"Hi" Alex said with a smile, still walking up to her but couldn't go another second without saying something to the beautiful blonde.

"Hi back," said Piper, going up to hug the brunette.

They held each other for what seemed like forever and neither one of them cared at all. Alex loved having her hands wrapped around Piper and vice versa. Piper pulled Alex in closer and hugged her as though they had been long lost lovers that had just seen each other for the first time in years.

Alex pulled back and stared at the blonde, directly into her eyes. She couldn't help but to kiss her now. She leaned down slightly and brushed her lips with Piper's. They kissed, still embracing each other tightly for a few minutes, knowing they were surrounded by people but they didn't care. They had both been looking forward to this moment since the last time they kissed. Alex grabbed Piper's face with both hands and kissed her in a deeper, more intent kiss. Alex pulled back and met her forehead with Pipers. Both women smiling and slightly out of breath they couldn't believe how happy they were with a stranger.

Alex laughing slightly, "it's really good to see you again, kid"

"I've been looking forward to seeing you all day" Piper replied, kissing Alex on the lips.

Not really wanting to but realizing they were surrounded by even more people now, the two women pulled apart but still held on to both of each other's hands.

"Have you been here before?" Alex asked, still looking deeply into Piper's beautiful blue eyes. _'_ _I bet she doesn't even realize how gorgeous she is'_ Alex thought.

"I go running all over the city so I've ran though a few times but I never stopped to really enjoy it, especially at sunset!" Piper said, looking up at the sky that was now setting into a beautiful orange-blue blend of clouds.

"This is one of my favorite places in the city for sure. I came here a lot growing up, with my mom." Alex let go of one of Piper's hands and began walking back to the bench she originally sat on.

Alex sat down first and Piper stood a few feet in front of her, admiring the beauty of their surroundings. There were a ton of trees, beautiful green grass, enormous fountain, and tons of joyful people. _'_ _I can see how this is one of her favorite places,'_ Piper thought. She turned to Alex with a smile.

Alex, wanting Piper to sit right next to her, put her hand on the bench and rubbed it back and forth, motioning for Piper to sit down. Both women smiled and Piper found her spot.

Alex put her arm around Piper and suddenly remembered last night doing the same thing.

Piper leaned in to Alex and nestled her head on Alex's shoulder. The two women were more than comfortable and exceptionally happy to be with each other.

"So why this place? I mean out of all the places in the city for us to go tonight, why here?" Piper asked, still resting on Alex's shoulder.

Alex knew this question would be coming and she hadn't quite prepared for it like she should have. She was too caught up in the happy thought of being with Piper for the night.

"It's a long story…"  
Piper chimed in, "I've got all night…" and looked up to Alex with a smile.

Alex felt so unbelievably comfortable around Piper and it scared her. She never told this stuff to anybody other than Nicky and Linda so the fact that she was considering telling Piper really terrified her. She got a nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach and moved around a little on the bench, nervously.

Piper, thinking she was meaning for her to sit up, sat up and stared into Alex's perfect green eyes. She put her arm around Alex's neck and moved in closer.

"You can tell me anything, Al. I want you to know you can trust me"

Alex looked back at Piper and realized how grateful she was for this stunning, perfect stranger.

"Are you sure you want the _whole_ story?" Alex replied, giving the blonde an easy-out if she wanted to run away before hearing all about Alex's dark past.

"Don't leave anything out," the blonde replied with a kiss on Alex's neck.

Alex turned slightly to put one knee up on the bench to get comfortable. She stretched her arm out on the back of the bench and Piper scooted closer to her, putting her arm on top of Alex's and rubbing her arm and shoulder. Piper stretched both legs out across Alex's lap and both women were relaxed.

"Last chance to back out and run back to shrimp boy," Alex joked.

"Not in a million years," Piper scoffed with a roll of her eyes.

Alex took a big breath and began spilling her deepest, darkest secrets to the woman she had wrapped around her.

* * *

Thanks so much for the love! You have no idea how much I appreciate it.

Fun Fact: I am obsessed with music and listen to it constantly. My obsession while writing these first 3 chapters have been songs from the band, Oh Wonder. Please check them out if you haven't yet! If you like music as much as I do, do yourself a favor and play them while reading this story, there's something very 'Alex & Piper' about their music that I love.

I have some good news and bad news….

Good news: I'm definitely planning on writing more chapters to this story. I love writing it and what pushes me is the positive feedback I get so thanks so much for that! I know I'm not the best writer out there but I really enjoy writing about our favorite couple.

Bad news: I am going out of the country this week on vacation with my family for a week and a half. I will absolutely continue to write while I'm there (hoping for inspiration, hint hint) but I'm not sure how often I'll be able to post. So bare with me, I promise new chapters are coming!

Don't forget to leave me a review of what you think so far or something you might want to see happen in this story! Thanks so much, xoxo


	4. Chapter 4

"When I was little my mom would bring me here all the time, like to just play around in the fountain and run around on the grass. I didn't have many friends so I would pretend the kids playing around the fountain were my friends," Alex said looking off into the distance.

"Sounds dumb, I know but this was my happy place. I would pretend I was anywhere in the world doing anything I wanted and it was the best days of my childhood." Alex looked at Piper with a smile.

Piper noticed the smile from Alex and smiled back, but she knew this was hard for Alex to talk about. She could sense the tension in her body as she lay across her.

"We would come out here for hours and hours at a time and even though I would get lost in my little world of pretend I would notice my mom sitting on a bench with random people or walking around nervously, it always looked like she was doing something really important so I just stayed away from her 'til she was ready to leave. I never realized what it was she was doing until I got older…"

Piper couldn't believe this "stranger" was spilling all of her secrets to her. She felt incredibly fortunate to be here in this moment with Alex.

"…..what was she doing?" Piper asked softly.

"I walked in the house from school one day, I think I was in 4th grade, I don't know for sure…" Alex said looking down.

Looking back up and focusing on something in the distance that seemed to help her get the courage to spill all of her secrets, "…I walked in the doorway and my mom was there in the kitchen measuring out this white powder on the table. I assumed it wasn't anything back then but it caught up to me pretty fast what it was. She sold cocaine and weed from our house and from the one place that's home to my favorite memories as a child," Alex said with a sarcastic laugh as she fought back the tears.

Piper took a big breath and wrapped both arms around Alex as fast as she could.

"Yeah…"Alex said with a sarcastic smile, "my mom was a drug dealer…"

"Wow….I can't imagine how hard that was for you to see, being so young…" Piper replied, looking directly at Alex who was still looking off in the distance.

Alex, prepared for a judgmental response, had no idea Piper would be so understanding and more worried about how she felt in that situation. Alex looked back at Piper and smiled. She was so lucky to have this beautiful girl draped around her.

"I pretended for like ever that I never saw anything, I would just look the other way when I knew she was "working" or just run to my room as soon as I got home. The older I got and the more I figured out what she was doing the less I wanted to go to the park with her anymore. She caught on one day that I hadn't joined her in a while so she asked me about it. I completely lost it and exploded on her. She was crying, I was crying, it was a huge mess…." Alex said looking down again.

"….but I'm glad I did it because she thought she was good at hiding it from me. She thought I had no idea," Alex said with a small laugh.

"So you never came back to the park after that?" Piper asked, softly again. She was scared she was prying too much and didn't want to overstep her boundaries. She did want Alex to know she was concerned and wanted to hear more, though.

Alex continued her previous thought, "….so anyways after our huge fight that day I ran off to my room crying, all dramatic. A few minutes later my mom came in and apologized, crying the hardest I've ever seen her cry. She had all these excuses for why she did it." Alex shook her head.

"…I never understood her excuses until I got way older…..So anyways after she apologized she promised me from that day on anytime we came to this park it would be 'me and her' time," she said, using air quotes for emphasis.

Piper smiled and saw a little smile from Alex, too.

Alex took a big breath as if to be glad the hard part of the story was over, "so from then on anytime we came here together we played and played until we couldn't move anymore. We would come here almost every Sunday and have lunch. It's always busiest on Sundays so we found a secret spot that we called ours," Alex let out a small laugh, thinking back on all the wonderful memories she had with her mom at this very spot.

Piper smiled again, "I can't imagine how much fun that was for you, coming here with your mom and getting all of her attention to yourself for a few hours in this beautiful place."

Piper looked around and really tried to take in the beauty of where they were. It was kept in pristine condition and the grass was as green as a fresh lime. The water falling from the fountain fell in beautiful droplets that took your breath away if you looked hard enough. The laughter and love shown by everyone around the fountain might have been the most beautiful thing of it all, though. It was a magical place and Piper was grateful to be there with Alex. She still couldn't believe how close she felt with someone she had barely known for 24 hours. She didn't care though, this was an instant connection and both women felt it.

Alex looked at Piper and smiled, "Yeah….it really was the best...You're so great for listening to my super sad and dramatic story," Alex said with a small laugh and couldn't help but to kiss Pipers cheek.

"I told you I didn't want you to leave anything out!" Piper said with a big smile.

"I love getting to know more about you, tell me more…" as she put her legs on the ground and nestled back into Alex's side, putting her arms around her waist. Alex put her arm around Pipers shoulder.

"I think that's enough of my past for one evening…" Alex trailed off but Piper could tell there was definitely more to the story. She gave up on putting Alex through telling more tonight but was sure to keep it in the back of her mind for a later date.

Alex suddenly remembered the reason she brought Piper to the fountain and asked, "Did you remember your penny?" with a smile.

Piper's eyes got big and she put her hand up to cover her mouth in shock.

"You did NOT forget the one thing I asked you to bring!" Alex said jokingly, looking at the blonde with big eyes and a shocked smile.

Piper stared at Alex in silence as she raced through her brain. _'HOW could I forget?!'_ she thought.

She looked down and began her apology, "I am so _so_ sorry! I can't believe I forgot..." she said, feeling like the most idiotic person in the world.

Alex didn't care at all, honestly, and remembered she brought an extra just in case but had way too much fun giving the blonde a hard time.

"I was going to have us do something really fun with the pennies but _somebody_ didn't keep up their end of the deal…" Alex said, sarcastically.

Piper cleared her throat, "Um, I'm sorry; I believe I did in fact keep up my end of the deal if you'll remember…" Piper looked at the brunette staring at her, as if she could telepathically help the brunette remember what she was talking about.

After a few seconds it hit her, "Oh don't bring up shrimp boy! He's not allowed at our happy place," Alex scoffed.

"We have a happy place now?" Piper replied with a big grin, still staring into Alex's perfectly green eyes.

"Don't try to change the subject!"

"Ok ok, I forgot my penny and am a horrible, disgusting person. What do I need to do to make it up to you?" Piper asked, insinuating that she would do whatever it took to get back on Alex's good side.

"Well, when you put it that way…" Alex said with a tilt of her head and a raise of one of her eyebrows.

Alex stood up and smiled. She loved how much this seemed to be torturing Piper. She hated showing her cards already but knew it had to happen eventually.

Piper still sat on the bench, watching Alex's every move.

Alex turned to face Piper and as she turned she grabbed the two pennies from her back pocket. She held out her hand with both pennies in her palm.

Piper was overjoyed when she saw the pennies.

"You grabbed an extra one, for me!" she said as she jumped up and put her arms loosely around Alex's neck.

"I already have you all figured out, kid" Alex replied with a wink.

Piper kissed Alex on the lips for the first time in what seemed like an eternity.

"Remind me not to go that long without kissing you ever, again…" Piper said as she pulled back away from the brunette.

"You got it" Alex said, now her turn to kiss the blonde.

They stood by the bench for a few minutes embracing each other as tightly as they could and letting each other give in to what they wanted most in that moment.

Alex went to put her hands in Pipers hair and dropped the pennies on the ground.

"Fuck," she said with a laugh as she bent down to pick them up and put them back in her pocket.

"I thought you were more coordinated than that?" The blonde said with a grin, then started laughing.

Alex laughed and replied sarcastically, "keep it up and you'll never know just how coordinated I am," with a big, toothy smile.

"So how on earth did you forget your penny? I told you not to forget!"

"I know!" the blonde said, still frustrated at herself. She wasn't mad that she forgot, she knew Alex didn't care about that. She was worried Alex would think she didn't care enough about this night to remember to bring the one thing she asked her to bring. Which was not the case at all, in fact it was quite the opposite.

"I had one on the counter by my clutch but got distracted by my roommate's unbelievably amazing cooking skills..." Piper said, remembering just how incredible her apartment smelled a few hours ago.

Alex tilted her head and smiled, "roommate?"

"He's a he, nothing for you to worry about," staring back at the brunette.

"Ok first off all, I wasn't worried about anything…"

Piper nodded sarcastically.

"…second of all, you can't say I have nothing to worry about because 'he's a he' when you just broke up with a he..."

Alex was surprised she already felt such intense feelings for the blonde. She was good about hiding her jealousy with most people, mainly because she never felt it, but not with Piper, she couldn't help it.

"….he's gay; does that ease your mind?" Piper said, rubbing the back of Alex's arm.

Alex wanted to smile but did a great job of hiding it. Instead she looked deep into Piper's eyes then looked off at the fountain and remembered, again, why she brought her here.

"Can't wait to meet him and try out his amazing cooking skills," Alex said and gave Piper a quick peck on the cheek.

"Come with me," Alex said, grabbing one of Piper's hands and pointing towards the fountain.

Piper gave way to the force from Alex and didn't mind at all. She loved having her lead her around, it made her feel protected. Something she never felt with her ex.

Alex walked up to the fountain, still holding Pipers hand. It was after sunset now and most of the people had gone home. Alex looked up at the beautiful nighttime sky and took a big breath, breathing in the crisp air of the city.

She looked at Piper and smiled, "You wanted to know a little more about me…"

"I want to know everything, Al" Piper said with a straight face.

Alex kept her gaze on Piper, "So when me and my mom would come here we never left without throwing a penny in and making a wish. It sounds so cheesy but it was one of the only structured things I had in my life when I was a kid. I always knew when it was time to leave because my mom would walk up to me and hand me a penny. We'd walk up to it together but make our wishes separately, one at a time, giving the other one time to really think about their wish and do the best one they could come up with," Alex laughed.

Piper, catching on to what was about to happen, was amazed, yet again, at how honest and open this woman was being with her. Nobody had ever trusted Piper like this and she could feel herself developing real feelings for this unbelievably gorgeous, inside and out, brunette.

"So I thought we could do that tonight, together…" Alex looked deep into Piper's blue eyes and could feel the attraction between them. It was more than a spark, something only to be described as magic.

"There's nowhere I'd rather be tonight than right here, with you…"

Piper didn't even realize how special those words were to Alex.

"Before you came along the only person I brought here was Nicky. I just stayed away for so long and never wanted anybody to know about my special place with my mom, you know?" Alex could feel herself getting emotional again. Not only because she was talking about this delicate subject but also because she was telling it to someone that she cared deeply about. _'The real deal shit,'_ she thought back on the wise words from her best friend and smiled.

Piper couldn't believe the words coming from Alex's lips. She definitely felt not worthy of being there, sharing that moment with Alex. _'What an extraordinarily beautiful human being,'_ she thought.

Alex wiped the bottom of her eyes before any tears fell further down her face. Piper saw this and pulled herself closer to Alex in a tight hug, both women staring intently at the enormous fountain next to them.

"I can't believe you wanted to bring _me_ here," Piper said after a few silent moments.

"You're pretty special, kid" Alex replied with a grin but meant every word.

"So how do we figure out who goes first?" Piper asked, trying to make Alex smile.

"Ladies first," Alex said, grabbing a penny from her back pocket.

"I'm pretty sure you're a lady too, unless you have another deep, dark secret you want to tell me tonight…" Piper said, playfully.

Alex laughed hard at that one.

"You are more lady than I'll ever be, babe" handing the penny to the blonde.

"Are you sure? I mean this is _your_ thing, are you sure you don't want to go first?"

"Go ahead, its' fine," and kissed Piper on her forehead.

"Okay, if you're sure?"

"One-hundred percent sure," Alex replied with a smile.

"So I just walk up to it, throw it in and then make a wish?"

"Have you never done a wish at a fountain before? You have it all wrong; maybe I _do_ need to go first!" Alex said jokingly.

Piper glared at Alex with a grin.

"No take backs," she said with a sideways smile.

Alex stood directly behind Piper, put her arms around her waist and grabbed her hand with the penny in it. She motioned towards the fountain as she talked as if showing Piper how to swing a bat or a golf club for the first time.

"So you just walk up, hold the penny in your right hand, think of the most important thing in the world that you want right now, don't say it out loud! Turn around away from the fountain and throw the penny over your right shoulder. Easy peasy," she said and kissed Piper's neck as she finished explaining the directions. _'I'll never get tired of kissing her,'_ Alex thought.

"I can't watch as I throw the penny in? What if I miss?"

Alex laughed, "You won't miss!"

"You've clearly never seen me throw a ball before…"

"You'll be fine babe, just concentrate"

Alex kissed her cheek and backed up a few steps, giving the blonde her own space.

Piper looked back at Alex, missing her embrace already. She turned back to face the fountain and took a big breath. Stepping closer to the fountain she began her thought process. _'Soooo I'm just supposed to think of the most important thing in the world that I want….before last night I would have wished for Alex but clearly fate was working with me on that one. Ughhhh I don't know, money? Happiness? Health?'_ Piper's mind raced for what seemed like an eternity until it hit her. She wished for the simplest thing she could think of and it couldn't have been more perfect. She said it in her mind a few times, just to make sure the fountain god's heard her, and then turned her back to the fountain, facing Alex now.

When her eyes met Alex's they both smiled, faintly.

She closed her eyes, trying to concentrate as hard as she could, and threw the penny high into the air over her right shoulder. She quickly jerked back around to make sure it made it into the fountain.

"See! I told you," Alex blurted out as she walked back up towards Piper.

Piper smiled widely as she felt Alex grab her waist again.

"How was it?" she whispered in her ear, both women facing the fountain.

"Extraordinarily calming," Piper said as she turned to face Alex.

Alex smiled and kissed the blonde. Then kissed her again, and again. This moment was so special to both women and they loved sharing it with each other.

"Your turn," Piper said as she tried to catch her breath.

Alex didn't want to but she let go of Piper and walked around her to be closer to the fountain. Piper stepped back and watched as Alex shared this special moment with her.

Alex walked up to the fountain and bent down to put her empty left hand into the water. She closed her eyes and swirled her hand around, feeling the cool liquid against her skin.

Piper crossed her arms and watched the movements of the woman she craved to touch.

Standing back up, Alex pulled her hand out of the water and shook it off. She stood there facing the fountain, eyes closed, for several minutes. She let the cool breeze crawl over her as she thought about her wish. When she finally turned around her eyes were still closed.

Piper, seeing Alex's eyes closed, realized in that moment how much she loved looking into her perfectly exquisite green eyes.

Alex tightened her right hand with the penny, took a deep breath, and flawlessly threw the penny over her shoulder into the fountain.

Piper was directly in front of Alex in an instant and Alex, feeling her close, opened her eyes and smiled.

"How was it?" Piper asked softly, copying Alex's question to her just a few moments earlier.

"Extraordinarily calming," Alex said with a smile.

Piper smiled and felt beyond happy to be able to stare into Alex's eyes again.

Piper kissed Alex on her cheek, "thank you so much for sharing this with me. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it," she said.

Alex was blown away by how much Piper seemed to enjoy this night as much as she did.

The two women stayed at the park for a few more hours, talking, laughing and stealing kisses. After a while they made their way to a bench and sat down, still in a close embrace, holding each other as tightly as they could. It didn't matter what time it was to them, they both lost track of it and neither one seemed to care.

After a while of just sitting there and not talking, Alex looked down to see Piper, who had nestled her head onto Alex's shoulder, had fallen asleep. Alex smiled and let her sleep for a few more minutes. After a while she looked down at her watch and it was a little after midnight. Realizing it probably wasn't the best idea for them to sit on a bench all night in the city, Alex leaned down and kissed Piper on her temple a few times. Piper groaned and moved around, pulling herself closer to Alex's body.

"I think we should leave, Pipes, it's getting late and you're falling asleep,"

"I'm not falling asleep, you are!" Piper snapped with a smile as she sat up and wiped her eyes.

"Hah, you were snoring about 30 seconds ago…"

"I don't snore!"

Alex laughed with a tilt of her head.

"Tell that to the squirrels that lost sleep because they woke up to you snoring!" Alex said jokingly.

Piper scoffed but still kept her smile.

"Come on, let's go," Alex stood up and reached her arm out for Piper to grab onto.

Piper groaned again but stood up, too.

"Where are we going?" Piper asked, yawning.

"Let's go have our first sleep over…" Alex said with a wink.

Piper smiled and found Alex's hand with hers, letting Alex lead the way yet again.

* * *

Hope you guys are enjoying it so far! This is my last update for about a week or so since we fly out tomorrow morning. Thanks so much for the love! Yall are the best xoxo


	5. Chapter 5

Hey guys! I'm back and finally able to put up the new chapters. I was able to write several chapters while I was away and I will be posting them soon. Thanks so much for the love while I was gone! Hope you guys enjoy the new stuff :) Don't forget to let me know what you think! xoxo

* * *

Alex couldn't believe she was so lucky to wake up with the most beautiful woman in the world lying next to her. It was Saturday so she had the whole day to do whatever she wanted and right now all she wanted was to lay in her bed with Piper while she slept.

She rolled over onto her side and put her arm over Piper who was laying on her side too. 'Guess

this makes me the big spoon,' Alex thought with a smile. Alex was never one for all of the "lovey cuddly" stuff, she was more of the "fuck & go" type. She never got to the cuddly part with anyone else except for Carmen.

After a few minutes Alex fell back asleep, still wrapped around Piper.

A few hours later both women woke up to Piper getting a phone call. Piper recognized her ringtone and jumped up out of bed, fumbling around trying to find her phone. Alex recognized the ringtone too and realized it was Leagues, the band that played when they met just a couple nights ago and who also played during their first kiss. Alex smiled.

Piper found her phone and didn't recognize the number but answered anyway since she had already flung herself out of Alex's embrace.

"Hello?!" she said as she answered.

"Oh, really? Well what about Don?"

Alex tried to listen to the voice on the other end of the phone but couldn't make any of the words out.

"Oh ok..." Piper turned to look at Alex and threw her free hand in the air, clearly annoyed at whoever it was that made her leave the bed.

"Alright, no its fine, I can do it," Piper said as she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah no big deal, i'll be there as soon as I can."

"You're welcome, you owe me!" Piper said as she ended the call, still very obviously annoyed.

"I'm guessing that wasn't your favorite person in the world?" Alex said with a grin, reaching her ams out for Piper as she climbed back into the bed and back into Alex's arms.

"My boss Ian, one of the new girls quit and he needs me tonight..."

Alex's heart dropped, she was looking forward to actually taking Piper out to dinner tonight.

"Oh...that sucks. When do you have to go in?"

"He said as soon as I can get there because apparently they still have a lot of cleaning up to do after last night's band...I was really looking forward to spending all day with you," Piper said as she looked up at Alex with a sad face.

Alex was definitely disappointed too but didn't want to make it harder on the blonde to leave.

"Me too babe, we'll save our first dinner date for another time though, I promise," Alex said as she kissed the top of Pipers head.

Piper shrugged and let herself lay there with Alex wrapped around her. She closed her eyes and escaped reality for a few short minutes. She knew she had to get up but she couldn't, she needed a little bit longer with the brunette before she left.

"Alright I guess I have to go home and get ready for work..."

"Let me walk you home," Alex offered.

Piper turned and looked up at Alex, "oh no you don't have to do that!" She kissed Alex and got out of the bed.

"I want to, I have nothing else to do today," Alex said with a smile.

Piper smiled back at her. "I would love for you to but you definitely don't have to!"

Alex got out of bed and went to her bathroom to get ready.

"Where are my shoes?!" Piper asked.

Alex chuckled, "you don't remember?"

Piper walked up to Alex who was brushing out her hair. She shook her head back and forth.

"You were falling asleep on me on our walk home," Alex said with a laugh.

It all came rushing back to Piper and she laughed, "I was tired!"

"You were walking with your head on my shoulder and your eyes were closed sooo I just decided to give you a piggy back ride the rest of the way..." Alex looked up and smiled at Piper.

"Oh my God that's right! I can't believe how tired I was! I'm so sorry I was such a party pooper..." as she walked up to Alex and put her arms around her waist.

"It's fine kid, I had you at that fountain all night! We should have come back here sooner..." Alex kissed her cheek and Piper went back into the bedroom to look for her shoes.

"Your shoes are by the front door!" she yelled from the bathroom.

"You dropped them as soon as we walked in," Alex laughed at the irony of last night. Piper was the first girl she felt anything for in an extremely long time and yet she wasn't able to be typical

Alex last night because they were both so exhausted.

Piper went to grab her shoes while Alex brushed her teeth.

In a few minutes they were out the door, on their way to Pipers apartment.

"Where do you live again?" Alex asked as they walked out the door of her building.

"Just a few blocks away over at the Pointe Apartments," as Piper pointed to the left side of the sidewalk.

Alex grabbed Pipers hand and they began walking down the street.

"When do you think you'll get off work tonight?" Alex was never this eager to hang out with anybody ever, not even Nicky, but Piper was different, she has been since the second Alex laid eyes on her.

Piper looked up at Alex, "it'll be late, unfortunately, or should I say early, after 2:30 i'm sure..."

"Wow that really sucks..." Alex tried to hide her frustration but was exceptionally horrible at it.

"...guess i'll just have to find something else to do tonight," Alex said, looking at Piper with a pout-y face.

"Oh don't do that! I feel so horrible," Piper stood on her tiptoes and kissed Alex's cheek.

Alex grinned, "i'm just giving you a hard time, it's fine! I'm sure Nicky doesn't have anything going on so we'll find some trouble to get into." Alex laughed and thought about calling Nicky on her way home to plan something.

"Well don't get into anything 'too' crazy, alright?" Piper pleaded. She entwined their fingers a little tighter and Alex knew what she meant.

"I won't, believe me i'll be fine with a night in with some beer and takeout, but that's not really

Nicky's thing," Alex laughed, thinking about her crazy, awesome best friend.

A few minutes later they were on the steps outside Piper's apartment.

"Alright kid, this is your stop," Alex said as she turned to face the blonde and gave her a hug.

"Come up and be with me until I have to leave?" Piper asked in her ear.

"I really should get going and see what Nicky is up to..." Alex said as she pulled back from their hug, grabbing both of Pipers hands and entwining their fingers again.

Alex didn't know how it was possible but she swore their hands were made for each other. They fit perfectly, and Alex smiled just thinking about it.

"Please, Alex, I won't get to see you for the rest of the day..." as she looked directly into the brunette's eyes.

Alex didn't even have to think twice before she let go of one of Pipers hands and started walking towards her apartment.

"So I've lived here for 3 years now, it's not the fanciest place in the world but its home..." Piper said as she led the brunette up the stairs.

"I don't do fancy anyways," Alex replied with a smile.

"I don't think I've ever been in these apartments," Alex remarked, with a little hint of shock.

"Been in a lot of apartments, have we?" Piper turned and smiled at Alex.

"I have a lot of friends," Alex said with a grin.

"Mhmmm..." Piper turned back around and finished walking up the stairs.

Alex swore she saw her roll her eyes.

Piper walked into her apartment and Alex was several steps behind her, sending a text to Nicky.

Alex-plans tonight?

Alex looked up and walked into the blonde's apartment. Piper was already inside, talking to her roommate.

"...Well well well the walk of shame just tranced right straight through my apartment! I need details right this second and don't leave anything out!" the familiar voice yelled with a loud laugh as Alex walked through the door. She rounded the corner to follow the voices and walked up to Piper leaning on the counter in the kitchen.

"Alex?! What are you doing here?"

It was quite an awkward few seconds for Martin and Alex once they figured out what was going on. Piper still looked confused, while Alex and Martin both laughed uncontrollably.

"You are fucking kidding me! This is your roommate?!" Alex still laughing, looked at Piper and pointed to Martin who was standing in the kitchen by the stove.

Piper looked extremely confused, "what is this?!"

"Oh my God I cannot believe this right now! This is the mystery person you wouldn't tell me anything about?!" The man said as he doubled over and continued to laugh.

Alex chuckled and looked at Piper, "he's my assistant, Pipes."

Pipers eyes widened and could not believe how small of a world this was.

"No way!" Piper said with wide eyes and a grin. She has always loved Martin, he is one of her only 'no bullshit' type of friends. He'll tell you how it is, whether you'll like it or not. He's always supportive and makes Piper feel good about herself. She was lucky to have him in her life. Obviously she felt a special bond with Alex, too so having them already know each other was almost unbelievable. It took her a few minutes to really register it all.

"So wait a minute," Piper said putting her hand up and the laughing died down.

"You two not only know each other, you work together?"

"I'm his boss!" Alex answered with another laugh.

"Oh this bitch is already throwing out the "boss"!" Martin said as he finished making his lunch. Alex smelled the exquisite aroma once she walked in the door and was now putting two and two together that Martin was an excellent cook.

Alex laughed, "You and I both know you're the one that runs that place," Alex complimented Martin and he appreciated it with a grin.

Piper still couldn't believe what had happened here. Her new best friend/roommate not only knows but works under her new obsession, Alex. 'This is insane,' Piper thought.

"So how did you two meet?" Martin asked Piper, raising his eye brows up and down with a smile.

"I was at work and she just walked up to me and got me with her charm," Piper said, putting her hand on Alex's shoulder and drawing imaginary swirls.

Alex smiled at Piper, "pretty sure you're the one that walked up to me but who's keeping score," Alex said as she kissed her cheek.

Martin couldn't believe the instant connection he noticed between the two women. It was as if they'd known each other for years but he knew it had only been a few days. Their connection and happiness radiated off both of them and he noticed both women were obviously happier in this moment than he had seen either of them in a long time.

"Well aren't you two the new 'it' couple if I've ever seen one!"

Piper and Alex smiled and both of their hearts skipped a beat thinking about them being a couple.

Piper leaned on to Alex and groaned, "I reaaally don't want to go get ready for work but I have to."

"I thought you didn't have to work today?" Martin asked as he took a bite of his pasta.

"Ian called me in because that new girl quit," Piper rolled her eyes.

"I told you its ok to tell that jerk 'no' every now and then!" Martin mouthed off with a mouth full of pasta.

Piper smiled, "well my boss isn't as amazing and understanding as yours is so it's a little different."

Martin pointed to Alex and said jokingly, "I never said _anything_ about this one being amazing OR understanding!"

Alex scoffed and rolled her eyes with a smile. She turned and gave Piper a kiss on the cheek at the compliments.

"Ok, now I really have to go get ready..." Piper said looking at Alex.

"...want a quick tour?"

"Absolutely," Alex said with a smile.

Martin finished his pasta with a wave as the two women walked off.

Piper took Alex through every room, showing her all of her proud decorating accomplishments. When she finally got to her bedroom, Alex found a spot on Pipers bed and sat down while the blonde got ready. Alex looked around and saw a lot of pictures of Piper with the shrimp boy and several pictures of her with a shorter brunette woman. She guessed that was the "ex best friend" and chose to not bring it up.

Piper noticed Alex looking around and said, "I haven't had time to go through and throw away all the trash on my walls," with a grin.

"It's fine! I was just looking around, it's a really nice place, Pipes."

Piper finished pulling up her hair and went to put her makeup on.

"You're sweet, thank you," she said as she smiled at the brunette.

Alex felt her phone go off in her back pocket but only having a few minutes left with Piper for the day she decided she'd read the text later on.

"Did you figure out your plans for tonight?" Piper asked. Alex could tell she was curious about the trouble they were going to get into that night so she decided to ease her mind a little bit.

Alex walked up to Piper and leaned on the door frame of the bathroom.

"Look, Pipes, I know we're not anything "official" yet but I promise you don't need to worry about me, you can trust me, ok?"

Piper turned to face the brunette, "...yet?" with a wide grin.

Alex laughed softly, "You heard correctly."

"When can I expect that to change?" Eager to be able to call this beautiful human being her girlfriend.

"I have to take you out to eat first to make sure you're not one of those hippie weirdos that only eats whole grain and tofu," Alex laughed.

"Well, I'm sorry to break your heart but I definitely am one of those hippie weirdos," as she turned and wrapped her hands around Alex's neck.

"You know, I did peg you for a hippie," Alex laughed and kissed the blonde.

"I am really going to miss you today," the brunette said as she kissed Piper again.

"Me too," Piper replied with a sigh.

"Maybe on day we'll be so rich we won't have to work and we can do whatever we want all day long," Piper looked in Alex's exquisite green eyes with a smile.

Alex smiled back and kissed the blonde again.

"That sounds perfect," Alex said softly as she put her hands on Pipers face and kissed her again a few more times. She knew it was almost time for Piper to go to work so she tried to steal as many kisses as she could. Piper didn't seem to mind one bit.

Piper absolutely hated it but realized she better head to work. "I need to go," she whined as she met Alex's forehead with hers.

"Alright, I'll walk you out."

"For the record, nobody has ever walked me home or walked me out on my way to work. You are pretty special, Al," Piper said as she kissed Alex.

"I have been told that a few times," Alex said with a sly smile and a wink.

"Oh I don't doubt that at all!" as she playfully pushed Alex away from her.

"You're the only one that said it and it meant something though," as she grabbed Piper and wrapped her arms around her waist.

"Really?" Piper looked up at her.

"Really," Alex replied with a straight face.

Piper smiled and kissed the brunette again. She grabbed Alex's hand and walked out of her bedroom.

Martin was cleaning up the kitchen when the women walked in, still holding hands.

"Welllllllll isn't that a sight for sore eyes!"

"Shut up, Martin," both women said jokingly, at the same time.

"Pipes I want details later on," as he winked at the blonde.

"And Alex I want details on Monday!" as he pointed to Alex.

"Not in a million years, bud," Alex laughed.

Martin scoffed and walked to his bedroom.

Alex followed Piper out her front door and down the stairs. Piper turned to hug Alex once they got to the sidewalk.

"This really sucks," Piper said after hugging Alex for a minute or so.

"Yeah it does...but it'll be fine! Go make some money and I'll see you tomorrow, ok? I'll bring you lunch since you'll sleep through breakfast."

Piper still couldn't believe she was so lucky to be embraced by this perfect woman. 'I don't deserve her,' she thought.

"Why are you so good to me?" she asked Alex as serious as she could.

Alex paused for a few seconds and stared into the blondes perfectly blue eyes, "I think I was made to be good to you, Pipes. You're pretty special."

"There you again, making me blush," Piper said and Alex smiled.

They tightly embraced each other one last time for that day and kissed each other goodbye.

"Try not to miss me too much," Piper said as she let go of Alex's hand and started walking the opposite direction.

"Already do," Alex called back with a smile.

Alex stood there and watched Piper round the block, then turned the opposite way and started walking back towards her apartment. As she walked down the sidewalk she remembered her phone went off earlier and pulled it out of her pocket to check it. It wasn't from her crazy-haired best friend _or_ the new blonde in her life.


	6. Chapter 6

Alex was staring at her phone and couldn't believe who she just got a text from.

Megan- Hey Alex this is Megan, Linda's daughter. She gave me your number. I know this is super last minute but I was wondering if you had plans tonight?

She was not expecting that at all. She saved Megan's number in her phone after Linda gave it to her and planned to text her at some point but got so wrapped up in Piper she completely forgot about it. She thought about writing her back but remembered she tried to make plans with Nicky earlier. She hadn't heard anything back from her best friend yet so she decided to call her.

"Vause! What the fuck are you up to," Nicky answered.

"So you can answer the phone on the first ring but you can't write back to my text? Asshole," Alex joked.

"Damnet you're so needy! What do you want man I'm busy!" Alex heard a laugh over the other end of the phone.

"What are we doing tonight?"

"Uhhhh I don't know how to break this to ya but I've got a real hot, little Italian date tonight and I am pretty fuckin excited about it!"

Alex laughed and was excited for Nicky. She didn't go on many dates because she wasn't one to pay for a night out with a stranger unless that person was really special. She'd rather just pick someone up at a bar and be done with them by the next morning. She and Alex both had that in common.

"Wait, with who? I thought Lorna was on vacation with her family…"

"She had to come back early for work or something, I don't know, but she's back and I've got a date so find somebody else to bug tonight ya leech. Ay wait, what about blondie?"

"Bye Nicky!" Alex knew that would rile her up and laughed.

"Fuck you man, I want details about what's going on with you two not-so-secret lovers!"

"Have fun on your date tonight! Hope you get some," Alex laughed into the phone, again.

"Screw you, ya asshole….hope you DON'T!" both women laughed and ended the phone call.

Alex felt like she had a big decision to make. She promised Linda she'd hang out with her daughter and obviously Megan wanted to hang out with her, too. Piper and Nicky were busy so she really didn't have anything else to do. She pretty much had a girlfriend and trusted herself, but if Piper knew all the details she might not be too excited about Alex spending time with Megan tonight.

She walked back into her apartment, grabbed the last beer from her fridge and sat on her couch with a big sigh.

She thought about it some more and realized the bottom line was that she trusted herself and her feelings about Piper. They had only known each other a few days but their connection was real and she couldn't be more excited to spend more time with her when she wasn't at work.

Alex took a big drink of her beer and decided to text Megan back.

Alex- Hey Megan, meant to text you yesterday and got distracted. I'm free tonight, what do you have in mind?

It only took Megan a few minutes to write back.

Megan- I have a fun place that is an amazing hidden gem in this city. You trust me?

Alex- I've found a lot of hidden gems so I might already know about it but sure, I'm game. Let me know where and when to meet you

Megan- I can come pick you up if you want!

Alex- you have a car?

Megan- You said you trusted me. No more questions :) just let me know where you live. I can be there around 8? If you're one of the diva types and you're always running late its fine, I'll wait outside as long as you need :)

Alex caught herself smiling at her phone screen.

Alex- no divas around here, see you at 8. I live at the Oak Tree Apartments

Megan- right around the corner from me! See you at 8 :)

Alex put down her phone and leaned back in her couch. She was excited about tonight and the potential of making a new friend. She didn't have very many but the people she considered friends meant the world to her.

She realized she hadn't eaten anything all day when her stomach growled tremendously loud. She also realized Piper hadn't eaten either and suddenly felt really bad about sending her to work on an empty stomach. She knew Piper wouldn't be able to write back but she decided to text her anyway to let her know she was thinking about her.

Alex- just realized we never ate breakfast or lunch, I'm sorry, won't send you to work on an empty stomach again. I'll make it up to you with lunch tomorrow. Have fun tonight babe xo

She got up from the couch and went to the kitchen to have a snack before her night out with Megan. She grabbed a handful of peanuts and decided to do some much needed cleaning around her apartment. She did laundry, cleaned the kitchen and bathroom, and tried not to think about Piper as much as possible but it was hard. She legitimately already missed her. She thought about how ridiculous that was and shook her head with a smile. Alex couldn't believe this girl already had her wrapped around her finger so tightly.

She finished her beer, her laundry, and her cleaning and decided to take a little nap on her couch after watching an episode of House of Cards. When she woke up it was after 6 and she had one new message.

Piper- missing you already. I ate when I got to work so no worries. Can't wait for lunch with you tomorrow! You and Nicky have fun tonight but not too much fun :)

Alex smiled at the sweet message and it made her miss the blonde even more.

After she got over the initial high the text gave her, she realized she had another choice to make. She could put her phone up for the night and have a nice, chill evening with a potential new friend OR she could spill it, tell Piper about her change of plans and hope for the best.

' _She's probably already busy again and won't see her phone til after she gets off work,'_ Alex thought.

Alex put her phone on vibrate and put it in her back pocket. She grabbed the last load of laundry she had in the dryer, threw it on her bed, and went to her bathroom to shower and get ready.

She really had no idea what to wear or what to prepare for on this night with Megan. They had never met before but she knew a lot about her and she was sure Megan knew a lot about her, as well. Linda tried dozens of times to get them to hang out but Alex always had an excuse. She remembered seeing pictures of Linda's daughter in her office one day and immediately told herself to not go down that road with the gorgeous daughter, so she blocked her out and forgot about her. She knew how she typically was with gorgeous women and didn't want to cause a problem with the boss' daughter. Even if she ever seriously liked a girl, which was extremely rare, she always found a way to screw it up before it went anywhere.

She was pretty much done getting ready when she heard a knock at her door.

"Coming!" she yelled as she slipped her dark blue Keds on.

She ran up and opened the door, still putting on her earrings.

"Hello," a man stood at the door as Alex opened it.

"You aren't Megan?" she said with a confused look on her face.

He stood tall with a fancy black suit on.

He laughed, "No, no I'm not, Ms. Vause."

"Well, can I help you?"

"Megan is downstairs in the car. I'll walk you down whenever you're ready, ma'am," he said with a smile.

"Oh…oh ok then. Thank you, I'm almost ready. Give me just a second," Alex said as she shut the door and ran back to grab her stuff. _'How weird,_ ' Alex thought, clearly thrown by the fact that her new friend owned a car AND had a driver.

She passed by her floor length mirror in her room and did a double-take to make sure she still agreed with her outfit choice. She fluffed her hair and smiled at her reflection. Alex felt her phone buzz in her back pocket, pulled it out and saw that it was another message from the blonde.

Piper- craving Chinese takeout. Does that sound ok for lunch tomorrow?

Alex couldn't help but stop what she was doing and write back to the beautiful blonde.

Alex- whatever you want sounds good to me babe :)

Piper- see you at noon?

Alex- I'll be the one with the food and the chopsticks!

Piper- can't wait to see you. Breaks over, gotta get back out there. Counting down til noon :)

Alex smiled, put her phone down on her vanity and frantically tried to find her keys.

Her front door opened slowly and the driver cleared his throat, "Uh, Ms. Vause? Megan has something she wanted me to tell you and I forgot earlier, I'm sorry."

"Oh, what is it?" she yelled from her bedroom.

"She said not to forget a bathing suit."

Alex walked out of her bedroom and tilted her head, confused. "A bathing suit?"

"That's what she said, ma'am," he shrugged.

"Okay, guess I'll go grab one real quick." She ran back to her room and grabbed the closest bathing suit she could find in her drawer.

She ran out the door almost in a sprint, knowing she'd be given a hard time from Megan for being a "diva".

The driver beat her to the car and opened the back seat door for Alex and stood there while she climbed in.

"Alex, hey," Megan said as Alex climbed into the black BMW.

"Hi," Alex said with a smile as she found her seat.

"It's kinda crazy it's taken us this long to finally meet up," Megan said with a tiny laugh as Alex put her seatbelt on.

"I know I've been meaning to get your number from your mom for a while and I just kept getting busy and forgetting, but I'm glad we finally have time to hang out," Alex said.

"I didn't think you meant you had a driver when you implied you had a car," Alex said looking around the inside of the pristine car.

The driver made his way back up to the driver's seat and took off. Alex had no idea where they were going but she got a good vibe from Megan so she figured it would be a fun night.

"Oh this isn't mine, I just borrowed it tonight to look cool," Megan said with a grin.

"Did it work?" she asked, looking up at Alex.

"I am pretty impressed, I've never been inside a 7 series, this is seriously unbelievable!"

Megan laughed, "I'm glad you're impressed, I tried to think of any way I could to make a good impression on you tonight," she concluded with a smile.

Alex let out a small laugh, "Why?"

"I don't think it's a secret that my mom has wanted us to meet for a long time now. I completely brushed it off and kept coming up with excuses, too, until she showed me a picture of you a few days ago…" Megan said looking down, shyly.

Alex was extremely uncomfortable now. _'Who says that out loud?!'_ she thought.

"Ohhh, that's cool," Alex stammered.

She wasn't used to girls being so forward with her, usually it was the other way around and Alex was the charming one that made the girls stammer.

"Believe me I know someone like you has to already be taken, I just wanted you to know where I'm coming from," Megan looked at Alex and smiled again.

"Yeah, I sort of have a girlfriend…" Alex said proudly and looked out the window.

She was happy with Piper and wasn't going to hide it for one second. She knew they weren't anything "official" yet but they were well on their way and she couldn't be happier about making that beautiful blonde her girlfriend.

"You sort of have a girlfriend or you have a girlfriend?" Megan asked, confused.

Alex smiled and replied, "I have a girlfriend."

Alex didn't normally lie; she hated having to hide the truth and thought it was ridiculous. But in that moment with Megan she didn't want her to assume she was single when she pretty much wasn't. She thought about how happy Piper would be, knowing Alex called her her girlfriend, and it made her smile.

There were a few awkward seconds but that got broken up once the driver pulled over and chimed in. Alex tried to look around to figure out where they were.

"Ms. Megan, is this where you'd like for me to let you ladies out? I can drive as far as you need me to," he said.

"We'll get out right here, thank you!"

The driver got out and walked around to let Alex out of the car.

Before the driver reached Alex's door, Megan tried to clear up the awkward air before it ruined their night she had planned.

Looking at Alex, she said, "Look Alex, I completely respect that you have a girlfriend, I mean of course I wish you were more on the single side but it's my fault for putting this off too long," she let out a small laugh.

"Now let's just have fun tonight, shall we?"

"Absolutely! What are we doing? He told me to bring a bathing suit?" Alex said with a questioned look on her face.

"Oh that's just an option for later on tonight; right now we're eating sushi, sound good?"

The driver opened Alex's door and she climbed out. It wasn't the nicest part of the city but it was the same area Alex had always loved because of its charm. Older buildings towered the streets but they were taken care of very well.

"Yeah I love it! I've always loved this part of the city, too" Alex said, looking around, as Megan got out of the same door.

"You may have been on this street but you haven't had this sushi before, I promise," Megan said with a grin.

"What makes you so sure about that?" Alex asked, getting slightly annoyed by her confidence already.

"Because I had the sushi flown in from Japan," Megan looked at Alex and smiled.

"You, WHAT?" Alex yelled but didn't mean to. She was completely shocked and it took a few seconds for her to register what Megan just said.

"We do it all the time, I already had it coming in and decided to make a fun night out of it with someone," Megan answered as she walked towards the front door of the building.

"And that someone you chose was me?" Alex called to her as she stood on the sidewalk.

Megan turned to face Alex, "We're gonna be great friends, AV, you'll see. Now come on I'm starving!" She motioned for Alex to follow her into the building.

"Yeah I'll be great friends with anybody that flies in sushi from Japan for me," Alex laughed and followed her.

They walked through the doors and straight to the elevators. Alex was still confused but followed directly behind Megan since she seemed to know what she was doing.

They walked into the elevator and Megan pushed the button for the very top floor.

"Penthouse?" Alex asked, jokingly.

Megan smiled, "It's one of my mom's secret get-a-way hideouts. She comes here when she needs a break from the big city life."

Alex smiled and nodded her head thinking, _'Pretty sure this is still 'big city life' but whatever.'_

The elevator doors opened directly into the massive penthouse apartment. There weren't a lot of decorations but Alex figure that was the look Linda was going for. Windows lined the walls and Alex wondered if she had ever seen a more beautiful view of the city.

"Wow, this is really an amazing view," Alex said, walking up to a window and staring out into the city.

"Isn't it? I always love coming here. Mom doesn't come here as much anymore so it's kinda turned into my own get-away instead of hers," Megan laughed.

"I'm going to go make sure dinner is almost ready, there's some drinks over there," as she pointed to a tray of pre-made drinks on the coffee table.

Alex glanced over at the coffee table with big eyes.

"Take your pick, I'll be right back," Megan said as she walked across the room and into the kitchen.

Alex stared out into the city for a few more minutes and reached for her phone to take a picture of the unbelievable view.

She felt around in her back pocket and didn't feel anything.

' _What the fuck? Where's my phone?'_ she thought.

She rolled her eyes as it hit her. She had put it down in her room after she text'd Piper back before she left and completely forgot about grabbing it on her way back out. She got distracted when the driver came in and told her to grab a bathing suit.

' _Fuck!'_ she thought. She normally had her phone with her at all times.

' _Hope somebody doesn't have an emergency and need me,_ ' she thought as she got more frustrated with herself.

' _Oh shit, Piper!'_ She got even more frustrated, thinking about her almost-girlfriend needing her or wanting to talk to her and not being able to.

She walked to the tray of drinks and grabbed the closest one she could find. She pretty much downed it in her frustration and slammed the empty glass back on the tray.

"Is everything ok?" Megan walked out of the kitchen and asked with a smile.

"Yeah, it's fine, I'm just a dumbass and forgot my phone at home," Alex said, still frustrated with herself.

"Oh that's no big deal! You can use mine if you need it," Megan grabbed her phone from her pocket and held it up towards Alex.

Alex appreciated the gesture but realized she didn't have Pipers phone number memorized, yet.

' _Jesus Christ I am a fucking idiot,'_ she thought as she put her fingers to her forehead in frustration.

"That's so sweet, thank you! But I think I'll be fine without it for a few hours," Alex said, not sure she believed the words coming out of her mouth.

Megan nodded, "Dinners ready whenever we are."

Alex grabbed another drink from the tray and walked towards Megan. She really liked the last drink she had so she hoped she picked up the same one again.

"I'm ready!" as she held up her drink with a smile.

Megan smiled too and led Alex through the kitchen.

Alex was amazed at how big the kitchen was. She couldn't believe nobody lived here full time. They walked to the back of the kitchen and Alex noticed a huge balcony outside with all kinds of outdoor furniture set up. When they walked onto the balcony the view almost took Alex's breath away. The sun was setting into a bright pink-orange sky and Alex thought she had never seen a more beautiful sunset. She walked over to the table on the balcony and took a seat. Alex thought this was a little weird; it seemed a little too much like a date but she did make it clear that she was not single so she figured it was fine. Megan walked to a speaker and pulled out her phone. She turned on her Bluetooth and connected it with the speaker.

Taylor Swift's 'Welcome to New York' blared from the speaker.

Megan turned to Alex and laughed, hoping for some sort of dramatic reaction.

"I know this might be a bit of a shock but I actually like her new album," Alex laughed as she took a drink from her glass.

"You? Like Taylor Swift? Wow, I would have pegged you more of a Tegan and Sara type."

Alex nodded and grinned, "Well, 'I Was a Fool' was pretty much the theme song of my last relationship."

She looked off into the city and thought about Carmen for the first time in a few days. They weren't ever in a real, official, relationship but they might as well have been.

Megan turned down the music a little and walked towards the table and sat down.

"I can't tell you how many times I blared that song in my headphones after my last break up, it was brutal," she shuddered and looked off, too.

"What happened?" Alex looked at Megan, trying to learn more about her.

"I'm not giving up my sad-sob story if you aren't either," Megan replied with a grin.

"Let's drink a little more before we go down memory lane," Alex laughed and held up her drink.

"Totally agree!"

Suddenly a man walked out with two trays of sushi and placed one in front of each of them. They had empty wine glasses in front of them and Megan asked for some wine. The man looked at Alex and saw she already had a drink so he filled her wine glass with water.

"This looks absolutely amazing!" Alex said, staring at the plate in front of her. There was way too much sushi for one person on each plate but each piece looked different than the one next to it. She had never seen anything like it before.

"They always make a good sampler plate of sushi so that's what I've always gotten," she laughed.

"I have no idea what the names of these rolls are but they are delicious!" as Megan grabbed her chopsticks and maneuvered them with her fingers.

Alex dove into her plate with her chopsticks too and moaned at the first roll she ate.

"I swear this is the best sushi I've ever fucking had," Alex said, stuffing her mouth with another piece.

"I'm glad you like it! My philosophy is the farther you go to get sushi the better it is."

"Yeah I'm pretty sure Japan is the farthest I'll ever have sushi from so nothing will ever top this," Alex laughed.

They ate, drank, and took in the beautiful view of the city the rest of the night. The more Alex drank the more she sang along, loudly, with Taylor Swift's 1989 album.

Alex stood, leaning on the rail of the balcony, holding her drink in her hand. Megan had gone back inside to get a re-fill of her wine and Alex took in the beautiful view for the hundredth time that night. She suddenly wished Piper was there to enjoy it with her. Just thinking about the blonde made her miss her even more and she wished she had her phone to tell her.

"Who wants a fortune cookie?!" Megan joked as she came back to the balcony with a full glass of wine and two fortune cookies.

"Oh those things are such bullshit!" Alex joked.

"Aw, don't be a hater, you know they're fun!" Megan said as she dangled the fortune cookie in front of Alex's face.

"Fine, gimme," Alex said as she snatched one from Megan's hand.

"So you know you're supposed to add 'in bed' to the end of your fortune cookie right?" Megan said as she took the plastic off hers.

"Yeah, you and every 12 year old boy in the city does that!" Alex laughed loudly.

"Oh bullshit, Alex you know it makes it more fun!" Megan ripped her cookie apart and read her fortune with a smile.

"Go ahead, read it out loud…" Alex said.

"Isn't that bad luck or something?"

"No, I think its good luck actually, it's your birthday wishes that you aren't supposed share with others," Alex replied sarcastically with a smile.

Megan laughed, "Ahh that's right, I got them confused…"

"…Ok, it says 'there is only one happiness in life: to love and be loved.'" Megan smiled and shook her head.

"Mine is totally lame, damnet!" Megan said and they both laughed.

"Adding 'in bed' to that one just makes it worse," Alex joked.

"Alright hot stuff let's see what yours says…" Megan playfully pushed Alex.

Alex took off the plastic and pulled her cookie apart. She pulled out the white piece of paper and read it in her head first.

She started laughing unbelievably loud and couldn't stop. She couldn't believe what her fortune said once she added the 'in bed' part.

Megan was dying to know what it said and tried to snatch the fortune out of Alex's hand since Alex couldn't talk because she was laughing so hard. Alex saw Megan going for it and moved her hand lightning fast, away from Megan, so she couldn't grab it.

"Come on! I wanna know what's so funny!" Megan whined but had a smile too.

"Oh my God this might be the best 'in bed' fortune in the history of the fucking world," She still couldn't stop laughing.

"Alex!" Megan yelled jokingly.

"Ok, ok!"

Alex tried to catch her breath and wiped the tears from her eyes. She hadn't laughed that hard in a long time.

"It says, 'Your tongue is your ambassador.'"

Both women laughed so hard, they both had tears this time. Megan finally caught her breath after her uncontrollable laugher and looked at Alex and shook her head.

"Of _course_ you would get that damn fortune! You are something else, AV," Megan said still laughing.

"Hey I had no control over which fortune I got!" Alex was still laughing, too.

They walked to the lay-out chairs on the balcony and sat down with their drinks. They sat there and laughed and talked for a long time and finally Alex looked at Megan and asked what time it was.

Megan pulled out her phone, "It's just past 1:30."

"It's 1 fucking 30 right now?!" Alex couldn't believe it was that late already.

"I better get going back home," Alex said as she stood up with her empty glass in her hand.

"I'm just gonna stay here tonight so you're more than welcome to crash here if you want to!"

Alex looked at Megan with a tilt of her head and shook her head.

"That's probably not a good idea," she said.

"Why? Nothings gonna happen, you can stay in the living room and I'll get moms bed. It's not a big deal AV," Megan smiled at Alex.

Growing up she had plenty of people in school call her AV but nobody had called her that in a really long time and she liked hearing it again.

"I don't know, I'm supposed to meet my girlfriend for lunch tomorrow…"

"I'll make sure you're back in time! Come on let's just stay here and enjoy this amazing view!" Megan said, pointing to the view of the city in front of them.

Alex grabbed her glass, excused herself and went to the restroom to think about it. She knew this probably wasn't the best decision but it was the easiest option. It was already super late and she did trust herself, that wasn't the issue. She thought about what Piper would say and quickly moved on to think about something else to avoid the guilt she knew would come with her decision.

Alex walked back out to the balcony with a full glass of wine.

"Okay, I will stay but I've got two conditions…"

Megan smiled widely, "What are those?"

"One, I have to be back at my apartment by 11 in the morning, no negotiations on that one!" Alex said as she pointed to Megan.

"Alright I can do that…and two?"

"Two, you absolutely have to stay in your moms bed and I will stay in the living room. No negotiations on that one either…" Alex looked serious at Megan and Megan smiled.

"We'll see about that," as she brushed by Alex and walked back inside to fill her drink.

* * *

Don't forget to follow and review please! I love getting to read what you guys think about it so far. Appreciate it! xoxo


	7. Chapter 7

This chapter is pretty long but I knew you guys wouldn't mind :) There is one point where I could have stopped it and put the rest on the next chapter but I didn't want to do that to you guys, hope you enjoy!

* * *

"Alex!"

' _Go away!'_ She thought she said it out loud but unfortunately it was just in her head.

"Alex! Wake up," the familiar voice called again.

Alex groaned and rolled over so that her back was now facing away from the voice and tried to fall back asleep.

"Alex, wake the fuck up!" Megan shoved her almost as hard as she could.

Alex rolled back over towards her and rubbed her eyes. She was still half asleep and had a pounding headache. The heated sun was blinding and after a few seconds she felt around for her glasses and put them on. When her eyes finally dilated and she was able to figure out where she was, her heart sank. All she knew was that she was with Megan and that thought scared her instantly.

* * *

 **Earlier that morning…**

Piper left work a little after 2:30 that morning and was glad to finally be done with her dreadfully long shift. Some people from work were going to grab a drink and they asked Piper if she wanted to join them.

"I'd love to guys but I have a date in a few hours and I need to get my beauty rest," Piper told them and smiled.

"Aw come on Piper, just one drink!" one of her co-workers said.

"Wait is it with that super-hot brunette you were with the other night at work?" one of the guys said.

At the mention of the words "super-hot brunette" everyone huddled together, closer to Piper to hear her answer.

She smiled widely and blushed.

"Oh I knew it! Damn she was so sexy!" another guy chimed in and tried to high five Piper but she left him hanging.

"Wait I wasn't working that night! I didn't see her!" one of them whined.

"Well you missed a good one, easily a 10! No, an 11!" and his eyes widened at the thought of Alex.

"Okay guys," Piper said, still blushing. _'She's more like a 12,'_ she thought and smiled. Just thinking about the brunette made Pipers heart skip a beat.

"Seriously though it's with her? Damn you are so lucky! I would be ALL over that if she swung my way!" one of the guys laughed with another one.

"What'd she look like?!" asked the guy that didn't work the night Alex and Piper met.

"Tall, long dark hair, black rimmed glasses, slender but had some meat on her bones…." one of the guys said and trailed off in thought just thinking about Alex.

Everyone else seemed to do the same, including Piper.

"Okay can you guys stop talking about her like that in front of me?" Piper said jokingly but was a little weirded out by their obsession with her almost-girlfriend.

"Believe me, this is nothing compared to what we said about her that night!" one of them spoke up and someone hit him in the gut to shut him up.

"Seriously Piper that's great! I'm glad you finally got over Larry, he was always such an asshole every time he came in here. What's her name?" one of the girls in the group asked.

"Yeah he always ordered a margarita! What kind of a straight guy orders a margarita when he's at the bar by himself?" someone else said and they all snickered.

"Well her name is Alex and she won't be coming up here since you guys are obviously obsessed with her!" Piper joked.

A collective "Aw man! No!" was heard from everyone in the group.

"Goodnight guys!" Piper smiled and turned to grab her phone and her purse. She checked her phone for any missed messages or calls from a certain brunette and was slightly disappointed when she saw none.

She decided to text Alex and let her know she was on her way home. Just talking about her with her co-workers made her miss the brunette even more. She couldn't believe how strongly she already felt for Alex. It was an instant connection and there was nothing either of them could do to slow it down. If she was honest, it scared her a little bit. It took her months to really decide she wanted to date Larry but only a few minutes for her to crave Alex. She wasn't scared in a frightened way, she just never realized somebody could develop such strong feelings for someone she barely knew. She remembered her grandma talking about how quickly she fell in love with her grandpa and thought this must have been the same type thing. Some people meet and see someone and all it takes is one look. It's an automatic thing and that's what Piper felt with Alex.

Piper- just now leaving work! It was so crazy tonight, had to kick a guy out myself. Can't wait to tell you all about it at lunch. Only a few more hours now :)

When Piper made it back inside her apartment she checked her phone and was disappointed, again, to not have any new messages from Alex. She went to put her phone up for the night but decided to let Alex know she made it home safely and sent one more text.

Piper- made it home. Hope you girls had fun tonight! See you in a few hours Al :)

She tried to act fine about it but she was starting to get worried about Alex. She just hoped their girl's night didn't turn into anything too crazy. She got ready for bed and still didn't have a new message from the beautiful brunette. She figured Alex was already home and in bed asleep so she let it go and climbed into bed herself.

After spending the previous night with Alex, she hated going to bed by herself now. She suddenly wished the brunette was curled up with her and thought about how exciting it would be to make that a regular thing. She smiled and drifted off to sleep, dreaming about her perfect almost-girlfriend.

* * *

Alex sat up and suddenly felt an overwhelming need for water and anything that cures hangovers. She never drank to the point of getting hangovers anymore, mostly because she could tolerate a lot of alcohol now, but last night she had mixed drinks and a lot of wine so she figured that combination was her cause of "death".

"What, the fuck, happened, last night," Alex said to Megan as she desperately tried to remember.

"I don't know Alex…" Megan said looking down and holding her head with both hands, obviously just as confused about last night as Alex was.

Alex was so frustrated. She convinced herself that she trusted herself and here she was, waking up next to this beautiful girl and meanwhile her almost-girlfriend is expecting her for lunch. She shook her head and thought about the hole she had now dug herself into. She shuddered at the thought of explaining all of this to Piper.

Alex looked around and realized she was still in the lay-out chair on the balcony where they ate dinner. The table was still out there with the chairs and the plates and empty bottles of wine. She shook her head and started trying to piece everything together.

"We slept out here last night?"

"Guess so." Megan got up from her chair to go grab a couple waters and several pain relievers.

She came back a few seconds later and Alex was relieved that Megan read her mind about the water and medicine.

"I can't believe we just slept out here all night and never woke up!" Megan said with a small laugh as she handed Alex medicine and a water.

"I know, I really don't remember much after the fortune cookies…" Alex trailed off, trying desperately to remember something but thinking about the fortune cookies made her laugh.

Alex took the medicine and prayed to anyone that was listening that it would take effect fast.

"That makes two of us," Megan replied.

Alex looked at Megan and noticed she was fully clothed. Then she looked at herself and realized she was, too. _'Well, that's a relief,'_ Alex thought.

She was proud of that, honestly. Just a few days ago she knew this would be a completely different situation. Alex wasn't one to wake up next to a fully clothed beautiful woman. That _never_ happened. She was thankful though and proud of herself for her small growth of maturity over the past few days. _'All because of that blonde,'_ she thought and smiled.

"We need to get you back to your apartment," Megan said, trying to find her shoes.

"Why? What time is it?" Alex was borderline in panic mode, scared she wouldn't make it to her apartment in time to pick up the food for her and Piper.

"It's like 1:15 Alex..."

The look on Alex's face was like she had just seen a ghost. Her eyes got big and her heart started beating really fast. She had now missed her lunch date with Piper and knew she was in deep trouble. She couldn't believe she put herself in this position in the first place with a possible relationship looming.

"Oh my fucking God," Alex blurted out.

"Come on, I'll drive us, it'll be faster," Megan offered.

Alex found her stuff in a matter of about 10 seconds and they were out the door and in Megan's car.

"You really don't remember anything that happened last night? Because I sure as hell don't either, and that's a little scary," Alex said looking out the window as Megan sped through the city streets.

Megan shook her head, "I really don't. I remember you telling a joke about an eggplant and a penguin or something? That's about the last thing I remember. I honestly didn't even get the joke but we laughed pretty hard at it," Megan smiled faintly.

Alex laughed and looked at Megan, "I do remember that! How could you not get the joke!"

"I'm sorry Alex, I was a little too busy re-filling your wine glass. I think it had a hole in it or something because you constantly needed a re-fill," Megan said playfully.

"Yeah, no that was you trying to get me drunk," Alex said looking at Megan.

"Well can you blame me?"

Alex smiled and shook her head. "It was a really fun night. I just wish I had my phone," she said and thought about the blonde again and how unhappy she must be right now.

"Well, honestly, I'm glad you didn't have it. I got your full attention all night and I know now-a-days that's really rare!" Megan said smiling.

Alex smiled and didn't say anything back to that comment.

As they pulled up to Alex's apartment Megan tried to relieve her of her stress about their night.

"I just want you to know that nothing happened between us Alex, I know it's all fuzzy right now but we both woke up with everything on and on separate chairs so I think we can both honestly say that you stayed in your chair and I stayed in mine," Megan commented, trying to keep Alex from running far away and never talking to her again.

"I really had a blast just lying out there and talking to you. I haven't had a chill night like that in a while, so thank you it was just what I needed," she concluded.

Alex was feeling so many things at the moment that it was hard for her to register everything Megan was saying. She really just wanted to get to her phone so she could start sorting everything out with Piper.

"Yeah definitely," Alex said, obviously far away in thought.

"If I remember anything or whatever, I'll be sure to let you know immediately I promise!"

"Me too," Alex said with a grin as she got out of the car.

"It really was fun, thanks for everything. The sushi, the drinks, but mostly the Advil this morning," Alex said with a laugh.

"Anytime, AV," Megan said with a wide grin and she sped off.

Alex turned around and went up the stairs to her apartment to check her phone. She knew the blonde would have been trying to get a hold of her and already was trying to come up with what she was going to tell her. She shook her head just thinking about the mess she got herself into.

When she finally reached her phone she had several text messages and missed calls but the only ones that mattered were the ones from Piper. She had the two messages that Piper sent her last night and then another text and a missed call from the blonde this afternoon.

Piper- alright its 12:30 and I haven't heard from you yet, getting a little worried. Call me when you can Al

Alex shook her head again and kept saying _'Fuck!'_ over and over again in her head. She had so many things rushing through her mind in this moment and it was hard for her to process it all. She decided calling Piper would be the best option. It was almost 2 now which meant Piper was probably predicting the absolute worst.

This whole feeling the need to explain her actions thing was completely new to Alex. She rarely did that with Carmen and she definitely _never_ did it with anybody else. But Piper had been different from the very beginning and she knew that. She felt such a strong connection with the blonde already and absolutely loved it. Alex felt bad for not communicating everything to her about last night and for missing their lunch date so she mentally prepared to be on the defensive end of their phone conversation.

Piper picked up on the first ring and Alex felt absolutely horrible. She figured Piper had been watching her phone all day to hear from her. Alex hated knowing she let her down.

"Alex?! Are you okay?" Piper sounded worried.

"Hey Pipes, yeah I'm fine," Alex's sexy, raspy voice was especially raspy now because of the lack of sleep and excess of alcohol.

"Wow you sound like hell," Piper laughed into the phone.

"Sexy hell, but still, hell. So you and Nicky had a LOT of fun last night I'm guessing? Somebody overslept our lunch date…"

Alex froze. She didn't know what to do. She hated lying but she didn't want to upset Piper. They had just started 'whatever this was' and Alex did not want to fuck it up already. She really was developing feelings for the blonde and genuinely cared for her.

Honesty prevailed though.

"I wasn't with Nicky…" Alex was pacing and hit herself in the forehead with her free hand.

"You weren't?" Piper froze on the other end of the phone.

"….who were you with?" Piper asked but was terrified to hear the answer.

Alex took a deep breath, "My boss' daughter. I'd never met her before and my boss had been trying to get me to hang out with her for a while. Nicky had plans and you were working so I just figured I'd finally be able to get to know her a little," Alex shook her head, still amazed at her stupidity in this whole situation. She was really a smart person and handled most things like a champ but she definitely had a gold star in messing up relationships; or in this case, almost-relationships.

A few seconds of awkward silence passed while Piper processed the information.

"Your boss' daughter as in your boss' daughter that is a child or your boss' daughter that is an adult?" she finally said.

"She's our age, Pipes," Alex answered.

There was a long sigh on the phone and Alex entered panic mode again and tried to diffuse the bomb.

"It was nothing Piper I swear on my fucking life, nothing happened."

Piper shook her head in disbelief on the other end of the phone.

"So let me get this straight- you're obviously hungover, you couldn't answer any of my texts, you were out all night with some random girl, and you missed our lunch date…where'd yall go?"

Piper tried to be calm but the anger kept winning and taking over. She thought she understood how Alex felt about her but now she suddenly questioned everything. Maybe all of this was more one-sided than she thought.

"Her mom-my boss has this apartment and we went up there and ate sushi and had some wine and stayed up there," Alex shook her head some more in realization of how bad that sentence must sound to Piper. If the tables were turned and Alex was hearing this from Piper she would have ended the phone call long ago.

"When you say you stayed up there…?" Piper was now up and pacing around her apartment. Martin walked into the kitchen to grab a drink and quickly made an about-face when he noticed the tension in the room and saw Piper on the phone, pacing.

Alex's heart sank. She didn't want to upset the blonde at all but that seemed to be all she was doing. She hated hearing the disappointment in her voice.

"Piper I swear to God nothing happened."

"That doesn't really answer my question Alex…"

"We hung out on their balcony and I guess at some point we fell asleep in these lay out chairs but it wasn't anything, she stayed in her chair and I stayed in mine. She knew I had someone, I made that clear from the beginning," Alex tried to make the blow easier on Piper but it didn't help much.

"Sooo you spent the night at her apartment, on the balcony, with her, and yall had a lot of wine and sushi? Am I getting that right?"

"Pipes I know how this sounds but I'm telling you nothing fucking happened. I need you to believe me when I say that," Alex sounded stern to get her point across.

"And why couldn't you answer any of my texts? Or why couldn't you tell me you weren't going to make it to lunch today?" Piper asked and Alex could tell her tone had completely changed from genuine worry to interrogation.

"I accidently left my phone in my apartment," Alex hit her forehead again, amazed at how stupid she had acted since the last time she saw Piper.

Piper didn't say anything and didn't make a noise in what seemed like forever to Alex.

"Piper please say something. I was really looking forward to our lunch together all day yesterday and then I forgot my phone like a fucking idiot and screwed it all up. I had no idea what time it was when I woke up but she knew I had plans with you so she woke me up and drove me back to my apartment as fast as she could."

"Well isn't she a saint…" Piper quipped, obviously pissed off and there wasn't much Alex could do at this point.

"I'm sure I'll regret this question in the very near future, but is she pretty?" Piper knew that was a low blow but she couldn't help it. She had to know.

"Piper…"

Piper scoffed, "Okay, well, that answers that…"

"So um, how did she know about me and our lunch today?"

"I mean we talked all night, your name kinda came up a few times," Alex said hoping that would help.

"Is she single?"

"I think so."

Alex hated feeling like she was being interrogated when she really didn't do anything with Megan. Clearly Megan felt something for Alex but Alex put a stop to it and she was proud of herself for that. She started to get frustrated with the interrogation but then quickly remembered how much she likes Piper. The old Alex would have said 'fuck off' and would have gotten over Piper by finding someone else for the night but all of that was pre-Piper. Everything changed once the blonde walked into her life.

Piper processed the information for a few seconds and then put it all together, "Wait a minute, did she hit on you? Is that how she knew all of this stuff about me and our lunch date?"

Alex had tried to avoid that question the entire conversation and apparently had done an absolutely horrible job at it.

"None of that matters. All that matters is that nothing happened and I was an idiot; I forgot my phone and missed our lunch and I'm so sorry for that," Alex tried hard to avoid answering the question but she knew Piper was too smart for that.

"Answer the fucking question, Alex!"

Alex's eyes widened at the remark from the blonde. She had never heard her raise her voice like that. It made her cringe on the inside because she knew she was the reason Piper was upset.

Alex took a big breath and decided that being honest with her was her only option.

"She made a comment when I first got in the car when she picked me up but that was it. I told her I wasn't single and nothing else was said about it," Alex hoped that Piper would believe her.

Piper honestly wasn't sure what to believe. Here is this perfect, now not-so-perfect, stranger that she had strong feelings for after only knowing for a few days and now she felt like she was getting to know the real Alex. She wondered if Alex just got caught up in whatever they were for a few days and was now ready to move on.

"Look Piper, I really am sorry for last night and this morning, I fucked up by forgetting my phone and sleeping through our lunch date but I swear nothing happened. I wouldn't do that to you. I know we aren't anything official yet but I want us to be so I told Megan I had a girlfriend. I know that was probably stupid but I didn't want her to think that I was single when I have you."

Piper shook her head and tried not to but she let out a small smile. She was definitely still angry at Alex but she couldn't help but to smile at the thought of Alex telling someone she had a girlfriend.

"You still there?" Alex had been the only one talking for what seemed like an eternity and she wondered if she was just talking to herself.

"I'm here," Piper said softly.

Alex smiled and was glad she wasn't mad enough to hang up the phone on her. That was a good sign at least.

After a few more seconds the blonde finally spoke up again.

"I was just really looking forward to our lunch and now I find out you were a no-show because you spent all night drinking with some gorgeous girl and spent the night at her apartment…how is any of that ok? I mean I know we're not anything official right this minute but I thought it was a general understanding that we both wanted to be," Piper still had her angry voice that's for sure.

"I'm a fuck up. I'm pretty much the master of handling things completely wrong…"

She paused for the blonde to answer but never heard anything so she kept going.

"…but I swear nothing happened with Megan, that's the bottom line, Piper."

A few more silent seconds went by and Piper finally spoke up.

"I think I'm gonna go, Al," Piper said with a big sigh.

"Go where?"

"Just go, I need some time to process…"

"You don't believe me?"

"I never said that." Piper said quickly.

"Oh, ok," Alex said. She hated not knowing what was going to happen but she understood Pipers need to be alone right now.

"Can I bring you dinner tonight to make up for our missed lunch date?"

"I don't know, I'll probably just hang out here with Martin tonight…"

"Ok, I get it," Alex said softly.

Alex's stomach was in knots and she hated not knowing their fate. She also hated the fact that this girl had such a lasting effect on her already. That's how she knew it was worth it to keep fighting for it. It tore Alex up inside to know she caused the blonde to be upset and disappointed in her.

"Bye," the blonde said.

"Bye Pipes," Alex replied.

* * *

"God damnet you are the biggest fuck up I have ever met in my ENTIRE life, Vause!" Nicky yelled at her with her hands waving in the air.

"I know! Fuck, you don't have to tell me twice!" Alex was visibly frustrated.

"I can't believe you already fucked things up with blondie before it even really began! Only you can do that!" Nicky was aggravated with Alex because she knew how strongly she felt about her new "friend". Alex never spent more than a few hours with any girl, except for Carmen, so the fact that Alex had been spending so much time hanging out with and thinking about Piper was huge and Nicky knew that.

After her conversation with Piper ended she laid down on her bed and took a long nap, trying to catch up on sleep and trying to forget about how horribly she had screwed everything up. When she woke up she realized she needed someone's advice about what to do and thought of only one person to go to.

She got to Nicky's apartment and thankfully her curly-haired best friend didn't have any visitors. She filled Nicky in on everything with Piper and Megan.

"You're like a fucking James Bond with all of these beautiful women around you all the time, it's not fair!" Nicky scoffed.

"Shut up Nicky this is serious…" as she pulled her glasses off her face and used her shirt to clean the lenses.

Nicky could tell her best friend really was frustrated so she put the jokes to the side for a little bit.

"Alright look, you're the idiot that messed it up so you're the idiot that has to fix it! It's simple really! Jesus why does everybody say relationships are so hard, make the other person as happy as you can and everything will work out!"

Alex thought about Nicky's advice and although it was simple, she was right.

"Guess I need to give her some space and then try to make it up to her," Alex looked off.

"Yeah, Bond, I'm sure you'll think of some way to make it up to her," Nicky playfully pushed Alex and she smiled for the first time in a few hours.

They finished their Sunday night with takeout and rented a movie, trying to take it easy. Alex hadn't even looked at her phone in a while since she was trying to forget about the mess she caused. She got up during the movie to throw her trash away and picked up her phone on her way back to the couch. She plopped down and looked at her phone. One new message.

Megan- I hope I didn't get you into too much trouble, I really had a blast last night. We'll have to do it again sometime AV :)

Alex smiled and thought about how much she really did enjoy last night. It was innocent fun between friends and suddenly Alex felt that Piper was blowing it way out of proportion. After-all, they didn't do anything, all they did was drink a lot and stayed up all night talking. 'S _ince when is that against the rules?'_ Alex thought.

Nicky looked over and saw Alex smiling at her phone.

"Christ, blondie already text'd you and wants you to come over doesn't she? Damn! I don't know how you do it," Nicky shook her head and looked back over at the TV.

Alex- It really was fun, I'm in some trouble but it's nothing I can't handle. See you soon :)

Alex looked up at Nicky and said, "Actually that was Megan…"

Nicky looked at her with big eyes, "Megan from last night? Good God woman, teach me your ways!" she pleaded sarcastically.

Alex shoved Nicky and told her to shut up.

"You literally have your pick of two _gorgeous_ women! Pick one, that's all you have to do!"

"I've already picked! It was never a competition you relentless asshole," Alex said as she got up to grab a beer from the fridge.

"Blondie? Or the mysterious new one? What color hair does she have anyway? I need a nickname for her….actually can you pull her facebook up? I need to know exactly what she looks like," Nicky said with a sly grin and wide eyes.

"Your eyes don't need to go anywhere but that little Italian midget you're already so in love with!" Alex blurted out and Nicky threw a pillow at her.

"Ey, fuck off! I really do like that midget," Nicky said and smiled at the thought of Lorna.

"And I really do like Piper!" Alex threw the pillow back at her and it hit her right in the back of her head.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah that's what you keep saying but you've got this mystery girl texting you while blondie is home crying her eyes out because YOU fucked it up already," Nicky joked.

Alex sat back down on the couch with her beer and chose not to respond to that idiotic comment from Nicky.

"Seriously Vause, I need to know…what color hair does the mystery girl have?" Nicky asked as she leaned in towards Alex.

Alex smiled and whispered, "….I'd call it auburn, like a really dark red…"

Nicky's eyes widened and her mouth gaped open. Alex giggled at her reaction.

"Exotic," is all Nicky replied. She looking off in the distance thinking about all the "auburn" hair colored girls she'd ever seen in person. _'Not many',_ she thought.

Alex's phone buzzed again and Nicky grabbed it before Alex could get to it.

"Give it to me right fucking now, Nicky!" Alex said laughing, but she was definitely serious.

"I'll give it to you if you guess correctly who just sent you a text!"

Nicky was up behind the couch now, dangling her phone in thin air, teasing Alex with it.

"No fucking way! Give it to me!" Alex was up from the couch now, too, threatening to chase her curly-haired best friend.

"I am a fast mother fucker, Vause, and I'm tiny which means I can fit in places that your amazon ass couldn't even dream of!" Nicky laughed hard.

Alex shook her head and thought she was too tired to chase anybody tonight.

"Fine…I'll play your stupid game…" Alex said and rolled her eyes.

"…but you gotta give me a hint."

"No fucking way! That wasn't the deal, guess it right or I get to read the text before you do! Come on Casanova, times a tickin'! Which one is it….blondie or exotica?"

Alex laughed, "Oh is that Megan's nickname now? You're so fucking corny."

Nicky didn't reply, she just smiled and kept dangling the phone in thin air.

"If you drop my phone I swear to God!" Alex pointed at Nicky.

"Oh shut the hell up and quit avoiding the game here, pick! Door #1 orrr Door #2…" Nicky's eyes widened.

"You are such an asshole…" Alex replied.

"That's what they call me!" she said with a big grin.

Alex shook her head and really tried to think about it. She hadn't heard from Piper all night, even though she wanted to. She had just been texting Megan so she figured it had to be from her.

"It has to be Megan, we were just texting," Alex said and reached out her hand so Nicky could give her the phone.

"Is that your final answer?!" Nicky asked with a grin.

"Yes, Regis, it is. Now give me my fucking phone you weirdo!"

Nicky looked down at the phone and saw who the text was from. She smiled with big eyes and looked up at Alex.

* * *

Let me know what you think! Xoxo


	8. Chapter 8

Nicky was still smiling, "Who's Martin?!"

"What, you got guys coming after you too, now?" she said with a sideways smile.

"Wait, the text is from Martin?" Alex questioned.

"Yup," Nicky said shaking her head up and down.

"That's my assistant…" Alex trailed off in thought.

"OH, well then it's probably about work, boring!" Nicky started to hand Alex her phone but at the exact same time Alex chimed in.

"….who also happens to be Pipers roommate…" Alex looked off.

Nicky snatched the phone back towards herself and was suddenly interested in reading the text again.

"Nicky, give it to me," Alex was serious now, knowing the text had to be about Piper.

"No fucking way! I'm reading it," Nicky said as she ran away from Alex a little further so she couldn't grab it.

Alex shook her head and walked back to the couch. She knew if she didn't pay any attention to Nicky eventually she'd get bored and find something else to mess with.

Nicky tapped on the phone and opened the text message. She read it and said, "Woah, I think you need to read this Vause," as she walked up to Alex sitting on the couch.

"Yeah no fucking shit! It's a text that was sent to ME not you," Alex said and grabbed the phone from Nicky's hand, obviously frustrated.

"Okay, damn! It was just a joke! Chill the fuck out," Nicky said and walked to the other side of the couch to sit down.

Alex really wasn't mad at Nicky, she did shit like this all the time. She was frustrated with the entire situation; frustrated with herself for making those stupid decisions last night and this morning.

She looked at her phone and opened the text.

Martin- Can we talk? It's urgent

' _Great',_ Alex thought sarcastically. She knew it definitely had to do with Piper.

She wrote him back as fast as she could.

Alex- Definitely, what's up?

Martin- Can we meet up? I'd rather grab a drink and talk than do this over text messages

Alex had been out with Martin a few times in the past so that wasn't a problem at all.

Alex- Sure, there's a bar halfway between us that I've always wanted to try. Red Door something

Martin- I know the place. Meet you there in 20 minutes?

Alex couldn't believe how he was acting. He was usually never this short or non-dramatic. This worried her and she jumped up from the couch, still typing back to Martin.

Alex- I'll be there

"I've gotta go," she said to Nicky as she walked to the kitchen to grab her keys.

"What the fuck? Look Vause, I didn't mean to be an asshole! You know that's how I am! It's a disorder!" Nicky said jokingly.

Alex laughed, "I'm not mad at you! Chill out, I'm gonna meet Martin for a drink."

"Okay, I'm coming too!" Nicky blurted out and jumped up from the couch.

"I'd rather it just be me and him, is that okay? I have a feeling it's about Piper and it's not gonna be pretty," she winced at the thought of how bad the news could be from Martin.

Nicky looked at Alex for a second then sat back down on the couch.

"Yeah, totally fine! I'll call Lorna and see what she's up to. No offense but I have way more fun with her than I do with you," Nicky said with a laugh.

"Asshole," Alex laughed too.

"I'll see you soon Nicky," Alex said as she walked out the door and shut it behind her.

Alex was definitely nervous about meeting up with Martin. Piper told her she would spend the night hanging out with him and now he suddenly wanted to meet up with her. She had no idea what he was going to say but she was dying to find out.

She got to the bar a little early, walked in and found a table with two stools in the back, away from all the noise. She sat down and a waiter walked up to take her order.

"What are you drinking tonight?" he asked Alex.

"Any specials?" She didn't really care what she was drinking, she just knew she needed something to calm her nerves.

"Umm we've got tall domestics for $2 and a jack and coke special tonight only for $2.50."

"Jack and coke," she replied to the waiter.

"Great choice honey, ok my name's Asher so if you need anything just flag me down," he said with a wink and went to get Alex's drink.

Asher came back with Alex's drink a few minutes later and sat it down in front of her.

"You look like you could use a stiff drink so I made it a double and added some cherry juice, that's one of my favorites. Enjoy!" he said as he slightly squeezed her shoulder and was off to another one of his tables.

Alex was halfway done with her drink when Martin walked in the door. She had been watching for him and waved him over to their table.

"Hey Alex," he said as he walked up to her and sat down on the empty stool at the table.

"Hey," she said as she took another drink.

"You started without me?" he asked with a smile.

"Well my new best friend _Asher_ came up and asked what I wanted to drink so I couldn't resist," she said as she pointed to Asher walking by their table towards the bar.

Martin laughed, "You just have that effect on people I guess."

Asher noticed the new person at the table and walked up to get his drink order.

"What can I get for you?"

Martin looked up at Asher, "I'll have whatever she's having," and nodded towards Alex.

"Can I get you another one, honey?" Asher asked, looking at Alex's now empty drink.

"Absolutely," she said.

Asher smiled and walked off to grab both of their drinks.

Alex looked at Martin and smiled, "Well, he's fun!" she said with big eyes and a smile.

"Shut up, he is hot but not my type…" Martin trailed off.

"Hot isn't your type? Since when?"

"Working at a bar isn't my type," Martin said sarcastically.

"Oh whatever, we both are in love with the same person that works at a bar…" Alex said and her mouth gaped open after the last word fell out of her mouth. Martin's did too.

"Well, well, well look what happens when you give Alex Vause a stiff drink…she actually opens up!" Martin said with a big grin.

Alex shook her head and could not believe what she just said out loud. She knew it was the alcohol talking but she did feel strongly about Piper. That fact she wasn't going to hide to anyone.

She blushed and looked down, not knowing what to say. She knew Martin's allegiance was to Piper so he was going to repeat everything to the blonde. She didn't care though, she wasn't afraid of hiding her feelings for her at all.

"Can we just forget I said that? I mean, I really do like her but I'd like to have that conversation with her before I talk about it with you…" Alex said, referring to the "in love" comment she just made.

Martin smiled and nodded and Asher was back with their drinks.

"Just wave me over when you guys are ready for refills!" he said as he walked off in a rush.

Alex twirled the straw in her drink and looked up at Martin.

"So when are we going to talk about it?" she asked with a straight face.

Martin looked off and then let out a big sigh. Looking back at Alex he said, "Look Alex, she told me everything that happened…"

Alex nodded her head, she already knew that and it didn't bother her at all.

"…she is really upset."

Those words made Alex's body tense up. She absolutely hated knowing Piper was upset and it was because of her.

"I tried to make it better Martin, I apologized, I owned up to everything. But in the end I _never_ touched Megan, I swear." Alex sounded stern again, trying to get her point across to Martin, just like earlier with Piper. She knew that if she could make Martin believe her then maybe he'd talk Piper into believing her, too.

"It's not just about physical touch, Alex!" Martin said loudly and with his hands.

"It's not always about sex, flirting with someone has many different variables and you definitely crossed a line last night and made it even worse by skipping out on your date with her today," Martin looked angry but Alex didn't care. She needed to hear what he had to say because he was just relaying everything Piper had just exploded onto him.

Alex nodded and let him get everything out.

"She's not an idiot, she knows you aren't in a relationship but she was under the impression that it was imminent…"

"It _was_! It IS!" she yelled.

"Then why did you get drunk and spend the night with someone that hit on you? Come on Alex, you're smarter than that, Jesus." Martin looked off and shook his head, obviously frustrated with her.

Alex let that statement process for a few seconds. She took a big breath and a big drink and said the only thing she thought of to say back to him, "You're right…"

"She really likes you, Alex. I've never seen her this happy. She was never this way with her ex and you haven't even known each other for a week! _That's_ something special."

Alex shook her head and agreed that it definitely was something special. She felt the same way.

"I know man, I know believe me! I wish I would have had my phone, I tried to go home but we had been drinking and she promised she would stay in her mom's bed and I could stay on the couch…"

"And did you do that?"

"Well, no but we didn't sleep in the same bed I know that for sure…"

"Alex, what the fuck am I going to do with you?!" Martin smiled and waved Asher over to the table.

"Ready for another round?" Asher asked as he ran up to the table.

"Yeah two more please," Martin replied.

"Wait, I'd better not," Alex said as she waved her hand in the air.

"Why not?! We can both be hung over tomorrow at work, it could be fun!" Martin laughed.

"I'm gonna go see Piper…" she said looking Martin directly in the eyes.

Martin shook his head back and forth, "Alex, that's not a good idea."

"Yeah, I'm gonna go see her and fix this!" She started getting up and reached into her wallet for some cash for her drinks.

"Alex, stop!" Martin grabbed her forearm.

She looked up at him with a tilt of her head, "What?"

Martin put his hand back on the table and took a few seconds to think about what he was about to say.

"She doesn't want to see you, Alex…" Martin said softly, trying to cushion the blow.

Alex scoffed, "I mean I know she's mad but I'm gonna fix it, dumbass."

"Al, she told me to tell you not to call or text or go see her, that's why I wanted to meet up with you…she was all upset and then before I knew it Larry was at the apartment. I don't know what he was doing there but I just had to tell you that. I think she's going back to him. He has been trying to get her back ever since she ended things and she kept blowing him off but she let him back into the apartment tonight…"

It took a while for Alex to process the information and she just froze as if everything around her froze in time along with her.

After a while of watching Alex just stand there, Martin spoke up again.

"I'm sorry, Alex, I know you really cared for her and I know she cared for you too…"

"I fucked it all up," Alex finally said after a few minutes. She sat down and put her elbows on the table and her hands to her forehead. She was absolutely in disbelief.

"Alex, give her some time, she'll realize that guy is nothing compared to you…"

"This is all my fault, I am such a fucking dumbass," she said softly.

"Al, take the day off tomorrow, go have some fun with your friends, that's what you need to do right now. I'm telling you, give Piper some time and she'll regret going back to that ugly ass mother fucker."

"Did she tell you she wanted him back?" Alex asked, staring at Martin.

"No, she never said a word about him to me, but I heard a knock at the door and then heard his puny ass voice. They were in her bedroom when I walked out so I never even saw him."

Alex cringed at the thought of him being in Pipers bedroom where she had just been while Piper got ready for work. Before everything got swirled around into this horrible mess.

Alex took her glass and threw back the remaining contents of her drink.

"I think I'm gonna go…" she said, looking around and realized the only place she wanted to be right now was her own apartment.

She stood up and once again reached for some cash to pay for her drinks.

"Let me get it tonight," Martin offered.

Alex looked up at him and smiled, "That was some pretty sucky stuff you had to tell me and I really appreciate it, you are a really great friend to me and Piper both. I hope you know how much I appreciate you."

Martin smiled back at her, "You're one of my favorite people in the world, Alex."

She smiled and started walking towards the door. She turned to look at Martin before she walked out and saw that Asher had joined Martin at the table and they were both laughing about something. _'I knew he was his type',_ she thought and smiled.

Alex walked home slowly, not in any hurry at all and really took in the city as she walked. She remembered just a few nights ago doing the same thing while Piper was falling asleep on her back on their way back to her apartment. She remembered how happy she was, holding the blonde, and shook her head. She couldn't believe she already screwed everything up so bad.

She got into her apartment and went straight to the shower. She didn't know what it was but she always processed everything a little better while she was in the shower, something about the hot water and the steam, she guessed.

She was in bed a little bit later and turned out the lights. She wanted to completely forget everything that happened over the past few hours and hoped for a sound night sleep. She decided not to set an alarm for work and thought she'd just get up when she woke up and then get ready and go into work. She could tell Martin was going to be running late tomorrow anyways and already looked forward to hearing what happened with Asher after she left the bar.

Alex woke up sometime around 10 and was thankful she actually slept through the night. As always, the first thing she did was check her phone and she didn't have any new messages or missed calls. She sighed, wishing for a text from the blonde, and got out of bed to get ready for work.

She made it into her office around 11:30 and hoped everyone was on their lunch break so they didn't bother her. She wasn't in the mood for small talk most days but especially today. Mondays were usually the days when most people were out of the office with clients or at venue locations so she was thankful to walk into a mostly empty office.

She walked up to her office and smiled when she saw Martin working hard at his desk, right outside her office. She really did appreciate him. He was the perfect assistant and she wished she could give him a better title than that, he definitely deserved it.

Martin looked up when he saw Alex walking towards him and looked confused.

"I thought I told you not to come in today, boss," he said sarcastically.

She laughed, "You know I had to be here, Mondays aren't the day to skip out on."

He nodded and went back to work. Alex walked around his desk and went to open her office door.

"Hey, how was your night after I left?" she asked him, insinuating she knew something was going on between him and Asher, the bartender.

Martin whipped his chair around to face her and smiled, "He's actually a pretty neat guy!"

"I TOLD YOU!" She yelled and she didn't even care. She hadn't seen anybody else in the office, yet.

"Shhh!" Martin said while laughing.

"Did you get his number?" she asked.

"Honey, I woke up next to him! Oh my God I can't believe I just told you that," as he covered his mouth with his hand.

Alex laughed and nodded her head. "Well, at least one of us is happy at the moment," she said, not meaning to kill the vibe they had going on.

"Alex, I wanted to talk to you about that by the way…"

Alex cut him off, "No, I don't want to talk about Piper," as she walked into her office, leaving her office door open as she always did.

"But Alex…"

"No! Not a word, get back to work or you're fired," she snapped jokingly.

They both worked for a few hours without interrupting each other and got a lot of work done. Since she came in late she didn't think it was right to take a lunch break which was fine with her, she wasn't that hungry anyways. Martin took his lunch break around 1 and was back before his hour was up so Alex assumed he was eating at his desk as he often liked to do.

Alex heard someone walk up and say something to Martin. She looked up from her computer to see who it was but whoever it was stood in the perfect spot so Alex couldn't see them.

"What are you doing here?" she heard Martin say.

"I'm here to see Alex, is she in right now?" the familiar voice said.

"Yeah she's here, go on back," Martin said.

Before Alex could even react to what Martin said, a woman was standing at the door of her office, knocking on her door playfully.

"Hi Alex," she said.

Alex knew that voice anywhere.

"Megan, hey…" Alex looked up and smiled but she was freaking the fuck out on the inside. She knew Martin was listening to every single word and hoped Megan didn't say anything too crazy.

Megan walked into the office, "Want me to shut the door?" she asked.

"No, it's fine," Alex said as she stood up to greet her.

Megan looked around, "You know, as many times as I've been up here to visit mom I've never been in this office, it's really nice! I'm glad you got a good one, some of these offices are so small!"

Alex was in panic mode yet again. Her mind was running about a million miles a minute and she didn't see it slowing down anytime soon while Megan was standing in front of her.

"Yeah I've always loved it! I love having room for my desk and a couch, makes it feel more like home."

Megan plopped down on the couch and crossed her legs. Alex went back to her desk chair and sat down.

"You're probably wondering what I'm doing up here on a Monday afternoon in your office," Megan laughed slightly.

Alex smiled, "Yeah I was kinda thinking that…"

"I have something of yours that you left at my apartment the other night!"

Alex was cringing on the inside. She knew Martin was, too.

Megan got up and walked towards Alex's desk with her purse in her hand. She pulled out Alex's bathing suit from her purse and set it on her desk.

"Ahhh, must have forgotten that in my quick exit!" Alex said, nervous as hell. She honestly couldn't remember if they ever used their bathing suits but she didn't think they did.

"Yeah, your bathing suit was on the floor of the living room when I got back up to my apartment," Megan laughed.

At this point Alex just wanted her to leave, she was tired of being nice to her and was not in the mood for this today. She knew Martin's ears must have been bleeding at this point from hearing all of the crazy shit coming from Megan's mouth.

"Well, thank you I appreciate it! Who knows what I would have done without one of my 27 bathing suits," Alex replied sarcastically.

Megan laughed, "Isn't that crazy? It's like every summer we buy so many new bathing suits but it's hard to throw your old ones out because they're so cute so you end up having an enormous bathing suit collection…"

Alex could tell she was just rambling now. She really needed to put a stop to this charade.

"Anyways…" Megan continued, "I just wanted to come see you to be honest. I've been thinking about you a lot since our amazing night…" Megan walked over and shut the door to Alex's office.

Alex shook her head and started to speak but Megan cut her off.

"I Know, I know, you have a girlfriend, but Alex you are a once in a lifetime type of person and I will never come across anybody as amazing as you are…"

"Megan, stop…"

Megan walked over to Alex's desk and sat on the corner of it, facing Alex.

"Look, nobody has to know anything that happens in here, besides there's like nobody in the office today! Come on Alex…" and Megan reached for Alex's hand.

"Megan, stop! You have to get the fuck out of here!" Alex stood up and was visibly angry.

"You can't just walk into my office and do this charade!" she said.

"What are you talking about? I brought you your bathing suit, this wasn't all planned out! I'm not a psycho…."

"You're trying to be with someone that has a girlfriend…" Alex shuddered internally at that sentence but she was sure as hell not about to tell Megan it wasn't looking so good between her and Piper at the moment.

Megan stood up and grabbed her purse.

"I thought you felt something that night, too…"

"Absolutely not, I told you I had a girlfriend from the second I got in the car. Please leave, Megan…"

Alex could not believe how Megan was acting. Piper and Martin were totally right about her. She wished she wouldn't have hung out with her at all now. She hated how she felt about her boss' daughter but she couldn't be nice anymore, Megan wasn't taking any hints. Evidently you had to be really harsh to get your point across with her.

They both walked towards the door of Alex's office. Before Alex opened it she felt the need to make it clear one last time.

"Megan, I am flattered, a little freaked out too honestly, but I need you to understand that I am happy with my girlfriend and I intend to stay that way for a hell of a long time. Please don't come in my office or text me again…"

Megan looked down and was embarrassed now. She really hoped Alex would feel the same way about her.

"I'm sorry Alex, I really am. I crossed a line that I shouldn't have. Your girlfriend is the absolute luckiest person in the world…"

She smiled at Megan and opened the door to her office. She was more than ready to get that psycho out of there. Alex walked out first and Megan was right behind her.

They walked a few steps and Alex stopped dead in her tracks once she looked up. Her heart literally felt like it had jumped out of her chest.

There was a certain blonde standing at Martin's desk talking to him.

All Alex could do was say her name when they made eye contact.

"Pipes…"

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Hope you guys are enjoying it so far! I loved reading all of your thoughts and opinions of the story, keep em coming! xoxo


	9. Chapter 9

Alright I decided to make today my first double post day as a thank you to everyone for all the reviews, favs, and follows! You guys are so awesome and I appreciate every single one of you. Keep it coming and there might be another double post day in the near future ;) as always, hope you enjoy it! xoxo

* * *

Alex couldn't remember the last time she felt like this. She had literally just completely rejected Megan and walked out to see the one person she did it all for. Martin told Alex the night before he thought Piper was getting back together with Larry so Alex was confused as to why she was looking at Piper in her office right now. She guessed Piper was there to see Martin.

All four of the people surrounding Martin's desk in that moment felt the tension, it was unbelievably strong.

Alex and Pipers eyes were still locked on each other and Martin kept looking back and forth between both of them. Megan was certainly confused and had no idea what was going on, although she definitely felt the awkward tension, too.

After what seemed like an eternity, Piper broke her stare with Alex and looked at Martin, "ready to go?" she asked him.

"Absolutely, let me shut my computer down," he said softly.

Alex, still staring at Piper, was still frozen, too. She wanted so badly to pull Piper to the side and explain everything; all of it. She felt an ache in her heart and wished more than anything that she hadn't messed everything up so badly. Looking at the blonde only brought back everything she remembered feeling when she was around her. She had a shortness of breath and butterflies in her stomach. All she wanted to do was make everything okay, grab the blonde and kiss her.

Piper looked back over at Alex, then at Megan. Megan saw Piper looking at her and went to introduce herself.

"Hi, I'm Megan," and she reached out a hand to shake Pipers.

Piper seemed out of it just as much as Alex was. It took her about half a second to realize who had just walked out of Alex's office once she said her name. It was the same girl that had screwed everything up and the same girl that hit on Alex.

Piper looked back over at Alex and shook her head, back and forth, slightly. Her eyes were sharp and sad.

Alex knew if she let Piper leave the office like that she would never hear from her again. She absolutely could not let that happen.

Alex finally spoke again in what seemed like forever. And yet again, all she could do was say her name.

"Piper…"

They were staring at each other again and this time, the blonde answered her.

"No," Piper said sternly to Alex.

Alex's eyes were full of regret while Pipers were full of disappointment.

"Wait, this is Piper?" Megan asked Alex while pointing to the blonde.

"Megan, it's time for you to leave," Martin spoke up and went to grab her arm to usher her towards the elevators.

Alex never paid another second of her attention to Megan. She had put a stop to her just a few minutes ago in her office so as far as Alex was concerned, Megan wasn't even standing there in that moment. All she cared about was Piper. All she looked at was Piper. All she wanted was Piper.

"Wait, I was talking to Alex!" Megan said to Martin, obviously getting agitated.

That was the last straw for Piper. As far as she saw it she had two options; she could turn and walk out and never talk to Alex again or she could give Megan a piece of her mind. Piper pondered for a second and then decided she could actually do both options. She was beyond furious right now and getting some anger out on Megan seemed like a great place to start.

"No, you fucking weren't, he's right, it's time for you to leave…" Piper said, glaring at Megan.

Piper could not believe how she was acting with a complete stranger. She _never_ said things like that to people but she felt she had no choice here. She was tired of Megan pushing her way onto Alex and she felt the need to say something.

Megan let out a sarcastic laugh and looked at Alex, "Wow, you really chose a good one."

Alex never took her eyes off of Piper.

Megan saw the look Alex was giving Piper and could tell she wasn't going to get anything else out of her. She turned to walk towards the elevators but not before leaving the group with a, "ta-ta!" and a wave of her hand high in the air.

Martin walked off to escort Megan to the elevators and make sure she left the building. He rode down the elevator with her to give Alex and Piper some much needed privacy.

The office was still empty so the only two people now standing in the room were Alex and Piper.

Piper looked at Alex with sad eyes and Alex felt a huge pit in the bottom of her stomach. Alex walked over to stand closer to Piper but she took a step backwards, obviously not wanting to be any closer to the brunette.

Piper shook her head again and finally spoke up.

"Leave me alone, Alex…" she said as she turned to walk to the elevator.

Alex knew she had to try everything in her power to stop Piper leaving like this.

"Piper, listen, let me explain for a second would you?" Alex followed her and tried to grab her arm but Piper jerked it away from her.

Piper got to the elevator and pushed the down button. She was facing the elevator doors with Alex standing behind her. She absolutely hated all of this but what choice did she have?

She took a big breath and turned around, now facing Alex. She hadn't let herself think about how perfect Alex was physically in a while so maybe that would help her get over her but now looking at her, she took her breath away. There was something about that long dark hair, those glasses, and her perfectly smooth skin that she absolutely could not stop staring at. It took Piper a few seconds to come back down to earth and remember she was pissed at her.

"What makes you think I want to listen to anything you have to say?" Piper asked.

Alex started into Pipers exquisite blue eyes and had completely forgotten about how easy it was for her to get lost in them. Alex had to come back down to earth, too, and answered her.

"Piper, please, just give me a chance to explain…" Alex grabbed Pipers arms and tried to get her to stand closer to her.

Piper backed up, "No, Alex! You can't just say whatever you have to say and expect it to make it all better, it doesn't work that way! You have no idea what I've been going through and now _this_?! I came up here to get Martin to go home and help me pack up all of Larry's stuff because I can't do it by myself. It's too hard. I lost Larry, because I chose to let him go, and now I've lost you…you have no idea how hard all of this has been on me. And then I get here and see _her_ walking out of your office with your door closed. What the fuck am I supposed to think?!" Piper was in Alex's face now, but Alex didn't like it at all. She wanted her to be close but not like this.

Alex couldn't believe what Piper said about packing up Larry's stuff. She equally couldn't believe what she said about losing her. _'Abso-fucking-lutely not_ ', Alex thought.

"Wait, you're not getting back together with Larry?" Alex had to make sure before she got her hopes up.

Piper tilted her head and looked confused, "Why on earth would you think that?"

"Martin said something about him coming over last night and he thought you were getting back together with him…" Alex absolutely hated that sentence but she had to get it out.

Piper shook her head back and forth and looked down.

"No, he was there telling me he wanted all of his shit back…" she said softly.

Alex couldn't help it but she let out a faint smile. _'That is the best fucking news I've heard all day',_ she thought as she smiled.

Piper looked up and saw Alex's faint smile, "You don't have to be so smug about it, me not getting back together with him doesn't mean I've forgiven you for fucking everything up."

Alex quickly dropped her smile and was brought back to reality with that statement. She put both of her hands around Piper's arms again and decided to tell her how she felt right that second.

"I want to be with you Piper, more than I've wanted to be with anybody else in my entire fucking life…" Alex said, staring deeply into the blonde's beautiful blue eyes again.

Piper stared back at Alex for a second, trying to detect her sincerity.

After a few seconds Piper shook her head back and forth again and Alex felt her stomach drop.

"No, Alex, I can't…" she said quietly, still looking at Alex.

Alex looked off and nodded. It was all her fault and she knew it. She hated the brutal honesty from the blonde but she wasn't going to let her go that easy. They were meant to be and Alex knew it from the moment she first saw Piper.

"Piper, we're meant to be together, I fucking know it with everything inside of me. You are the only person that has ever made me feel this way. So if you need some time, that's fine. I'll be here. I'll wait as long as I need to and I won't be with anybody else because nobody holds a fucking candle to you. You are so perfect and amazing and absolutely gorgeous and I don't want to ever be with anybody but you. So take some time, however long you need…I'll be here."

Piper's mouth gaped open a little and she was taken back by what Alex just said. It was absolutely everything she wanted to hear but she knew deep inside she still wasn't even close to being over what happened between them. She felt a little stupid about it but what Alex did really her and she wasn't about to let the brunette back into her life after she just screwed everything up.

They stared at each other for a few more seconds and the elevator doors opened with a 'ding'.

"I have to go," Piper said, still staring at Alex.

"No, you don't, Pipes…don't go," Alex pleaded.

"Yes, I do…" Piper said and Alex saw a tear fall from one of her eyes as she blinked.

Alex walked towards the blonde, now only a few inches from her face. She wiped the tear from Pipers cheek with her thumb and put both hands on her face. Piper put her hands on Alex's wrists to pull them off of her face but before she knew it she felt Alex's lips on hers. Alex kissed Piper for the first time in what seemed like forever and made it count. She knew it would be a while, if ever, that she would be able to do that again.

Piper heard the elevator doors start to shut behind her and pulled away from their kiss. She stepped back and put her foot in the doors so they would open back up again. Alex stood there, starting at Piper, wishing more than anything that she'd stay and they could talk it out. But she understood. Piper needed some time to sort through it and if time is what put them back together in the future then time is what Alex would deal with.

Alex kept staring at Piper and had a hard time letting her hand go. Piper walked back, onto the elevator and pushed the button for the ground floor. Alex's hand fell to her side when Piper was too far away from Alex for her to still touch her.

They both stared intently at each other, both wishing this was completely different circumstances.

"I'll be here, Pipes…" Alex said as the elevator doors closed.


	10. Chapter 10

The only thing Alex wanted to do in that moment was run after Piper, grab her and explain everything. She tried several times but Piper didn't want to hear any of it and Alex realized she had to respect that.

She slowly turned and went back to her office to finish her work for the day. She never saw Martin for the rest of the day and assumed he met up with Piper downstairs and went home with her. Alex appreciated his friendship even more now. She realized he wasn't just on "Team Piper" but he was on "Team Alex" too and that meant the world to her.

The next few days were a blur to Alex. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday all came and went without anything major happening and Alex was thankful for that. Work was normal, it always got busier towards the end of the week and she was thankful for that, too. The busier she worked the less she thought about Piper. Martin came in every day and never said a word about any of it to Alex. On Tuesday, the first time they saw each other after the incident in the office, Martin walked up to Alex and gave her a hug. Alex wasn't one for physical touch between friends but she appreciated what Martin did so she caved and hugged him back. It was only for a split second but it seemed like Martin wanted Alex to know he was there if she ever wanted to talk about it. She appreciated that more than he knew.

Alex struggled those few days with not reaching out to Piper. She wanted to _so_ unbelievably badly. She wanted to tell the blonde she never stopped thinking about her and that her promise stood firm, she would wait as long as it took. But she got stronger every day and reminded herself that she promised she would respect Piper's wishes.

Nicky was there for her every single night after Alex got home from work and Alex never realized how much she needed her best friend more than now. All they did was sit on the balcony and gaze at the city lights or rented a movie or took a long walk throughout the city. A lot of the time they were silent and neither of them ever said a word. Sometimes Nicky couldn't shut up about how amazing Lorna was and Alex was actually really happy for her best friend. She appreciated hearing stories about other people in the world who were happy while she felt like she was crumbling on the inside. It was a bit weird but she really did think that way. It gave her hope that Piper would come back.

Alex filled Nicky in on everything that happened at her office that awful day with Piper there. Nicky listened intently with her mouth gaped open while Alex told the whole story. She couldn't believe everything that had happened to her best friend and could tell even more now how strongly Alex felt for Piper.

Nicky tried not to ask about Piper but she knew she was the only person Alex was opening up to and she didn't want Alex to keep it all bottled inside. She knew that's what made people go crazy and tried a few times to get Alex to talk about her but Alex shut it down every single time.

Alex's schedule that week was pretty simple; wake up, try not to think about Piper, go to work, try not to think about Piper, go home, try not to think about Piper, hang out with Nicky, try not to think about Piper, go to sleep, try not to think about Piper, repeat.

When Friday afternoon rolled around, everyone was leaving the office early because of the holiday weekend. They all had Monday off that next week and most people left early that Friday to get a jump start on their long weekend. Alex didn't have anything planned for the weekend so she stayed at work, knowing that's the best chance she had at thinking about Piper the least.

Martin came to say goodbye before he left for the weekend.

"I'm outta here, boss!" he said as he popped his head into her office.

Alex looked up from her computer and smiled, "And what are your plans for the weekend? I know you have to have something good going on…"

Martin paused for a second, thinking about his answer.

Alex noticed his pause and let out a small laugh, "What is it 'Top Secret'?" she said sarcastically.

Martin smiled and answered her previous question, "Asher is going with me to Pipers parents' anniversary party at their house in the Hamptons. I don't know, they have this big thing planned…." Martin tried to play it off like it wasn't a big deal but Alex knew it was, she could tell he was excited.

"Oh," Alex said. She really was bummed about missing out on the party but she knew it was for the best if it's what Piper wanted.

Martin shook his head, "Alex, for the record, just between me and you…she started talking about you again yesterday so I think that's a good sign…" he said and gave her a thumbs up.

Alex couldn't believe Martin was telling her this but she was grateful. She knew he had to have had a few stories about Piper from this week but she didn't want to seem too eager.

"That's definitely a good sign…thanks for telling me," she said with a smile.

She wanted to ask more and get the details but she wasn't going to let herself get too amped up about it until she talked directly to Piper. She tried to downplay it as much as she could with Martin.

"Yeah, you know what? I think you should think about texting her, I don't know, let her know you're thinking about her. Larry got his stuff on Tuesday and she was glad to be done with him. She just mopes around and it's super depressing. I'm sure you've been doing the same thing…seriously, think about reaching out to her, you never know what will happen."

Alex tilted her head with a questioned look, "I don't know Martin. I mean of course that's all I've wanted to do all week but I don't want her to think I'm suffocating her, she was pretty adamant the other day that she wanted me to back off…"

"Do what you want! I'm only _her_ roommate and _your_ assistant. I spend most of my days with two people that desperately want to be with each other and I can't ever really say my opinion on the matter because you two are in your depressed stages! It's exhausting being me!" he said playfully with emphasis on his last sentence.

Martin did have a point. He spent his days with Alex at work and his nights with Piper at home. He spent pretty much equal time with both women and did a great job of not playing favorites.

Alex smiled, "I'll think about it. Thanks for the tip."

"Anytime, boss. Have a good weekend, see ya Tuesday!" and he waved goodbye to Alex.

She tried not to let her conversation with Martin cloud the rest of her afternoon but it was useless. All she could think about was the fact that Piper started talking about her again. Was it bad? Was it good? She had no idea and frankly she didn't care either way. As long as the blonde was talking about her, that was an overall good sign.

Alex tried to get as much work done as she could and went home that night around six. Nicky text'd her and they planned to have pizza and rent a movie. Nicky had been dying to see the new Dumb and Dumber movie so Alex agreed to let her rent it and said they could hang out at her place, as they had done every night all week.

Nicky showed up around nine with the movie and pizza and Alex stopped on her way home from work to grab some beer for their lazy night in.

Nicky walked right in Alex's apartment as if she lived there, too.

"Vause! Did ya miss me," she said jokingly as she sat the movie and pizza down on the counter in the kitchen.

Alex laughed and went to grab two beers from the fridge.

"Always!" she replied sarcastically.

"Woah! That's the peppiest I've heard you all week! You must have finally heard from blondie today, eh?" Nicky asked, grabbing a plate and putting some pizza on it.

Alex opened both beers and handed one to Nicky. As soon as Nicky's sentence registered, she lost her smile. She did get good news but the fact was that she still hadn't actually heard from Piper. That thought brought her back to reality and made the ache inside her come back will full force. She took a big drink of her beer.

Alex decided to fill Nicky in on what Martin told her earlier at work about Piper. She knew her best friend would have sound advice for her and if not, she knew she'd at least get a good joke or two from her instead.

"….so he thinks I should text her. I told him it wasn't my place to do that, I should just leave her alone and she'll let me know when she's ready, right?" Alex asked Nicky who had just taken a big bite of her pizza.

"Look Vause, I think he's right. You've been sulking the fuck around your apartment all week, its pathetic man! You obviously want to be with her, you gave her a few days and now I think it's time for you to reach out and see if you get a bite," she said with big eyes and a smile.

"Really? You think I should text her?" Alex asked.

"Abso-fucking-lutely! Christ I'm tired of seeing you and your sad puppy face, I want my hard-ass best friend back!" Nicky said and slapped Alex's back.

Alex laughed, "Hey, I'm still a hard-ass!"

Nicky looked directly at Alex with big eyes, "Vause, you haven't even been to a bar all week! You go on walks around the city…and not to pick up women! You just like to walk now! You never used to do that shit…I'm not saying it's a bad thing. I just want my crazy best friend back every once in a while," she concluded with a wink.

Alex nodded in agreeance with her crazy-haired best friend. She was definitely right and Alex needed to get out of her funk. There was only one person that could solve that problem and it was time for Alex to make it all right again.

She pulled out her phone and Nicky smiled.

"That's my girl, go get her Tiger…" Nicky grabbed her plate and beer and walked to the living room and plopped on the couch.

Alex wasn't sure what to say to Piper at all. She wanted to keep it short and sweet but she didn't want to come off rude either. _'Texting is fucking hard'_ she thought. She finally decided on what to say and typed it out. It took her a few minutes to earn the courage to press send but eventually she sent it.

Alex- Hey Pipes

' _Short and sweet'_ , she thought to herself and smiled. She was proud of herself for waiting this long to reach out to the blonde. She hoped it had been enough time for Piper to make her decision.

Nicky looked up, "What'd you say to her?"

Alex kept her phone in her hand, grabbed her plate and her beer and joined Nicky on the couch.

"It says, none of your fucking business!" Alex laughed.

Nicky glared at her but smiled, "Alright I get it, I get it! I'm just happy to hear your laugh again, asshole," and both women smiled.

Halfway through the movie Nicky turned her head to Alex, "Anything yet?"

"Nope," Alex said, trying not to think about it. She kept checking her phone every few minutes to see if she had anything from Piper and suddenly started feeling regretful when time crept by and she still hadn't heard back from her.

"Maybe this was a bad idea, Nicky…" Alex said, not caring about the fact that she was interrupting the movie.

"No it's not! Give her some time, maybe she's busy right now!"

Alex shook her head and let her mind wonder. She tried paying attention to the movie but it was no use, all she could think about was Piper being too angry or too busy to write her back.

The movie ended and it was almost midnight so Nicky decided to go home. On her way out she wanted to try to cheer up the brunette one last time.

"Hey, I know something fun we can do this weekend. Let's go to central park and confuse all the tourists when they ask for directions to places in the city! Come on, it'll be fun!" Nicky smiled widely but Alex was staring off into thin air.

"I'm gonna go into work tomorrow…" Alex trailed off, far away in thought.

"On a Saturday? Damn, alright well call me when you're done and we'll do something, okay?"

"Sure," Alex said.

Nicky was genuinely worried for her best friend but knew there was nothing she could do to help her. She tried everything already all week to cheer her up. Nicky knew the only person that could help Alex at this point was a certain blonde.

"Alright go to bed pimp, get some rest!" Nicky said as she closed the door to Alex's apartment.

Alex didn't even clean up the pizza or beer bottles, all she wanted to do was lay in bed and hopefully fall asleep fast to escape the horrible feeling she had. Her heart literally ached and all she wanted to do was escape to dreamland where she could dream about being happy with Piper.

She walked into her room, fell down on her bed, and drifted off to sleep.

Alex woke up a couple hours later to her phone buzzing. She was a light sleeper and usually put it on silent while she slept for that exact reason. She grabbed her glasses and put them on. Still half asleep she strained her eyes and tapped on her phone to see who text'd her. She smiled almost instantly.

Piper-I miss you so fucking much, Al

Alex sat up immediately and turned on her lamp beside her bed. She kept reading the text over and over again to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Too eager to wait, she wrote back almost instantly.

Alex- I miss you too, Pipes. How are you?

A few minutes went by and Alex's phone buzzed again.

Piper- I'm alright, I'm sorry I ran out of your office the other day. I had a lot of stuff going on inside my head and seeing you only made it harder for me

Alex- I understand, you needed some space and I told you I would be here

Piper- I missed you all week, just had to sort through some stuff you know

Alex looked at the time on her phone and realized it was just after 2:30 in the morning.

Alex- It's pretty late kid, why are you still up?

Piper- I'm in the Hamptons at my parents' house and we had a bonfire on the beach tonight, had a few too many glasses of wine and couldn't stop thinking about you. Seems to be a real problem for me, lately

Alex smiled but desperately wished she was with the blonde right now. Being with her at a bonfire on the beach sounded like a perfect night and she shook her head at her stupidity in everything again, disappointed in the fact that she had to miss out on everything this weekend.

Alex- I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since I first laid eyes on you :)

Piper- Just walked back into my room, can I call you? If it's too late I understand

Alex- Sure

Alex smiled and couldn't help it but she kept staring at her phone, waiting to see Pipers name light up the screen. It only took Piper a few seconds before she made the call.

"Al," Piper said as Alex picked up the phone.

"Hey Pipes," Alex said back, with a huge grin.

Alex heard a huge sigh and a door shut on the other end of the phone then the crashing sound of waves in the background.

"What's going on over there?" she said jokingly.

"I just walked out onto my balcony to sit and stare at the waves, it's such a beautiful night!"

Alex snickered and wishes so absolutely badly she was sitting next to Piper right now.

"I'm sure it is beautiful…" Alex smiled.

"Seriously the moon is so huge! Go sit on your balcony and look at it," Piper suggested.

"I don't know if I'll be able to see it from my balcony…"

"Well it won't cost you anything to try, get your ass up!" Piper said and smiled into the phone.

Alex smiled again and got out of her bed. She had a feeling the blonde could tell her to walk into on-coming traffic and she'd obey her. Piper had this pull on her and Alex didn't mind one bit.

She walked out to her small balcony and sat down. She actually could see the moon and it was an unbelievable sight.

"Wow, Pipes it is breathtaking!" Alex said, staring up at the moon.

"And now we're looking at the same thing so it's kinda like we're together right now, right?" Piper asked softly.

"Absolutely," Alex sighed.

"I missed you so fucking much, Alex…" Piper blurted out.

"Me too, kid, it's insane how much you've changed my life in a week…" Alex said.

All Piper could do was smile on the other end of the phone. This was the best night she'd had all week and she knew it was all because of Alex.

"I wish you were with me right now," Piper said.

"When do you get back?"

"Sometime on Monday. We're having a big anniversary party for my parents tomorrow at the house, basically a bunch of old people that me and my brother have to entertain for an entire night!" Piper said and rolled her eyes. She loved her parents but she knew deep down they would never approve of her and Alex. That didn't stop Piper for one second though. She wasn't about to let their disapproval ruin her happiness.

Alex thought for a second and then couldn't wait any longer to ask the blonde out on their first official date.

"Would you want to go to dinner with me Monday night?" Alex asked, anxiously awaiting Pipers answer.

Piper smiled immediately, "Yes! Absolutely, Alex."

Alex smiled too and suddenly everything seemed right in the world again for both women. They were both happy, both over the drama from the weekend, and both beyond thrilled about seeing each other on Monday.

"I can't wait to see you, Pipes. So tell me about the big party tomorrow!" Alex said, hoping she and Piper talked for the rest of the night. She didn't care if neither one of them got any sleep at all.

"Well me and my brother, Cal, and his wife, Neri, planned it all, basically. We're having it catered and Cal is hanging white lights tomorrow outside. We're eating outside so I'm hoping for good weather! It's supposed to be nice so that shouldn't be a problem. Me and Neri are doing all of the decorations in the morning; we're hanging pictures and putting up all kinds of stuff outside and inside. It's going to look really good! I'll be sure and send you pictu….." suddenly Piper stopped mid-sentence.

Alex didn't know what happened, she thought maybe the call dropped.

"Piper?!" she said.

"Oh my God," Piper suddenly said with frustration.

"What?! Is everything okay?"

"I am SUCH a dumbass! I left my parents wedding picture in a frame at my apartment! Oh my God, I can't believe I forgot that…"

Alex was actually relieved. She was scared it was something bad by Pipers immediate reaction.

"Jesus, you scared me!" Alex said, trying to calm her heart rate.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to. I'm just so frustrated, I was put in charge of bringing the main piece of décor and I left it in my bedroom like a fucking idiot…" Piper said, clearly just as frustrated as before.

Alex suddenly had a brilliant idea.

"Um, I can bring it to you Pipes, if you want…" She said, timidly.

"Oh, no I would hate for you to do that! It's such a long cab ride. That is so sweet but I can't let you do that," Piper replied.

"I really don't mind, Nicky is with Lorna all weekend and I didn't really have much planned…"

"No, it's not a big deal! I mean, well, it is a big deal but we'll figure it out…I'd hate for you to make a special trip just to bring me a picture…"

"I don't mind Piper…I want to be there for you and help out whenever you need it, that's what I'm here for," Alex said.

Alex definitely wanted to help Piper and show her that she meant enough to her for Alex to drop everything and help her out. Alex was also wanting to see the blonde sooner than Monday so that would definitely be an added bonus.

"You are seriously so sweet Alex, but don't worry about it, its fine, we'll figure something else out…so tell me how your week has been…"

"Well if you change your mind and you need the picture just let me know and I won't mind Piper. Uh, my week was okay…not really, it sucked, it was pretty horrible…I'm sure Martin could tell you that I moped around the office all week," she let out a small laugh.

"…and I'm sure he told you I moped around the apartment all week," Piper laughed too.

"He is something else! I'm glad he's your roommate, he's such a great guy…"

"I know I'm really lucky to have found him, he is pretty great! He has a new guy in his life, did he tell you about that? They got here a couple hours ago, they came for the party tomorrow…" Piper said.

"Yeah I met Asher, he was our bartender when we went out on Sunday night…"

"You went out with Martin on Sunday night?" Piper questioned.

"Yeah, we went to a bar and had a few drinks..."

"Oh, he told me he was going out, I just didn't realize it was with you!"

"Yeah, he asked to meet up with me….I guess he wanted to give me some advice about everything. He's so fucking great," Alex said with a smile.

"He really is! I'm glad they came, Asher is a really neat guy," Piper yawned.

"Oh no, was that a yawn?" Alex joked.

Piper smiled, "Not at all! I can talk to you all night."

"You're tired and you've got a crazy day tomorrow, its fine if you need to get some sleep!"

Alex really wasn't fine with it because all she wanted to do was hear the blonde's voice but she didn't want her to be a zombie tomorrow at her parent's anniversary party. She wanted her to be a good hostess.

Piper groaned, "Fine, I guess I should go to bed and get some sleep…Cal will be ready to go at 8am!" and she rolled her eyes.

Piper was already stressed about everything she had to do tomorrow and forgetting the main picture for the party décor was one of the top stresses on her list now. She loved how sweet Alex was to offer to bring it to her but she didn't want to put her through that, especially since they hadn't even had their first official date yet.

"Have fun tomorrow, kid. Text me when you have some free time and let me know how it's going."

"I will, and Alex…"

"Yeah?" Alex asked.

"It is _so_ good to hear your sexy voice again, I really missed it," Piper admitted.

Alex paused for a second while she smiled and took in the compliment. She always heard how sexy her voice was but hearing it from Piper made it real. She loved every second of being happy with Piper.

"I missed your voice, too," she finally said, with a smile.

"Goodnight, don't let the bed bugs bite!" Piper said playfully.

Alex let out a small laugh, "Goodnight Pipes, hope you sleep well."

They both hung up at the same time even though neither of them wanted to hang up at all. They knew the other needed a good night sleep though so they sucked it up and both went to bed, both wishing they were together.

Alex woke up around 9:30 that morning and got out of bed to slowly get ready for her day. She didn't have to get dressed up like she did for a normal work day, since it was Saturday, so she just threw on some black jeans and a white top. After she got dressed and fixed her hair she made herself a bowl of cereal and caught up on the latest gossip on her phone through social media. Her phone buzzed in her hand and she wished it was from Piper but it wasn't.

Martin- holy shit, all Piper can talk about today is you! You can thank me later :)

Alex smiled a big ass smile.

Alex- I'll thank you right now! Seriously thanks for the advice, it worked ;)

Martin- I'm just glad to see you both happy again, although your blonde is freaking the fuck out over this party. Something about some picture she left at home, she won't quit bitching about it

Alex- Well at least she's not ONLY talking about me! Haha

Martin- True, it's nice to get a break every now and then from about how perfect you are, blah!

Alex- You guys have fun tonight, send me a picture of you 2 all dressed up! Wish I was there

Martin- & why aren't you?

Alex- We have a date set for Monday night, I offered to bring the picture to her but she shut that down pretty fast. Its fine, she probably just needs some time to process our convo from last night before she sees me again and I cloud her judgement ;)

Martin- Oh bull shit Alex! Get your damn ass down here. I have a spare key to the apartment in my drawer at work. Go get it and go get the picture. You will be a fucking hero, plus I need backup!

Alex contemplated it for a few minutes. She really wanted to see Piper more than anything but Piper made it clear that she'd be fine without the picture. Alex didn't want to over-step their boundaries either, after all they had just solved all of their issues. She went back and forth with what to do for a few minutes then decided to go for it.

She didn't even have time to write Martin back. She was out the door in a flash and headed for their office to get his apartment key. She was beaming and excited and a little nervous, too but most of all she was exhilarated to surprise Piper. She could not wait to see those beautiful blue eyes again.

' _What's the worst that could happen?'_ she thought as she hurried inside her office.

* * *

I made this chapter a little longer since ch 9 was so short. Hope you guys are still liking it! xoxo


	11. Chapter 11

Alex couldn't remember the last time she was this excited about seeing another human being. Nobody made her feel the way Piper did and she was absolutely giddy at the thought of seeing her in the next couple of hours. She thought about the other night when, in a slightly-drunken state, she told Martin she was in love with Piper. _'It's way too early for that',_ she thought. But was it really? Is it ever too early to fall in love with someone? How can anybody put a time stamp on something like that? Alex wondered if anybody had ever fallen for somebody else as fast as she fell for Piper. _'No way',_ she thought with a smile.

She was still upset about the issues that she caused between them but Piper seemed to be over all of it so Alex decided to move on, too. If Piper brought it up when they saw each other then they'd talk about it but if she never said a word about it again, which is what Alex hoped, then that would be even better. Alex was more than ready to move on to nothing but a bright future with the blonde. There was something about her smile that drove Alex crazy. She loved being the reason for it and couldn't stop thinking about it once it popped in her head. She had a huge smile just thinking about it.

Alex rushed out of the elevator and went straight to Martin's desk. She didn't see any lights on in any of the offices so she assumed she was the only one up there and was grateful for that. She did _not_ have time for small talk right now.

She pulled open the drawer to his desk and shoved everything around until she found the key. Her face lit up as she grabbed it from the desk and in no time at all she was back downstairs, jumping in a cab and going straight to Pipers apartment to get the picture.

She had never done anything like this before, never gone out of her way to surprise anybody, so she really didn't know what her game plan was. Alex Vause wasn't one to go out of her way to make others happy but all of that changed once Piper walked into her life. Her once closed-off and sometimes icy heart had now been broken down and that made her much more vulnerable. She knew that tremendously increased her risk of getting hurt but she trusted Piper with that job more than she trusted anybody else with it.

She pulled up to Pipers apartment and ran up the stairs. As soon as she opened the door she suddenly got a scent of Pipers perfume. She remembered smelling it the night they first met and remembered how intoxicating it was to her. She got chills just reminiscing on how angelic Piper smelled and thought about how it wasn't fair that somebody could be _that_ attractive AND smell so absolutely amazing.

Alex walked into Pipers bedroom and noticed everything had changed. All of the furniture had been moved around, her bed sheets were new and best of all, none of the pictures of her ex-boyfriend _or_ her ex best friend were anywhere to be seen. Alex smiled, thinking about how the blonde must have been going for a complete over-haul of her room to get over her old life and start a new one. She shook her head and grinned just thinking about being part of Pipers new life. The butterflies in her stomach came back as if Piper was about to walk in the room but she knew she wasn't, Alex was just caught up in thinking about everything they had to look forward to. She walked over to Pipers bed and sat down, running her hand along the smooth, made up bed sheets that were perfectly tucked in and not a wrinkle in sight. Alex turned and grabbed one of Pipers pillows and hugged it almost like she would Piper. She rested her head on top of it, closed her eyes, and inhaled the aroma that she was sure came directly from Piper herself. She smelled a little bit of Pipers exquisite perfume but mostly it smelled like coconuts and pineapples and Alex was suddenly taken back by the scent of it all. It made her want to be on a beach somewhere far away with the most beautiful girl in the world. _'Maybe one day',_ she thought with a smile. Suddenly, she snapped back to reality and remembered the task she was supposed to be doing. She stood up, placed the pillow back in its pristine position and smoothed out the bed. She turned and started looking around the room for any picture of two people that could be Pipers parents. It wasn't a few seconds before she glanced over to Pipers dresser and saw a large frame sitting on the floor with an old wedding picture in it. There was a beautiful young woman with long blonde hair and a handsome young man with the most perfect blue eyes. Well, his eyes were certainly runner-up to somebody else, that's for sure. Alex smiled and studied the picture. They looked happy and in love and she hoped to be able to meet them in a few hours, along with a few other members of Pipers family. She turned and walked out of Pipers bedroom, shutting the door behind her. Alex locked the front door of Pipers apartment and was walking down the stairs when she realized she didn't have an address to where she was supposed to go. Obviously she wasn't going to ask Piper so she grabbed her phone from her back pocket and went to text Martin. As soon as she tapped on her phone she saw she had one new text message.

Piper- UGH I wish I was back in the city with you right now, this whole thing is so stressful! Looking forward to Monday night so much

Alex smiled at the sweet text and clicked out of the message. She had never really done surprises before so she wasn't sure how to act, plus she absolutely hated lying.

She found Martin's name in her phone and sent him a text asking him for the address. Just a couple minutes later she had the address and an overly-excited Martin anxiously awaiting her arrival. He told her to call him when she got there and Alex agreed that was the best plan of action.

Alex jumped into the nearest cab and was on her way to the Hamptons. As soon as the cab took off she suddenly felt nerves in the pit of her stomach; not nerves to where she'd want to turn around but nerves like where she wondered how Piper would feel about her suddenly being there. If anything, she would at least give Piper the picture then come back home, she didn't have to stay if the blonde didn't want her to. She hoped this whole thing would show Piper how strongly Alex really felt about her.

Alex knew she was in the Hamptons when she looked out and saw enormous beach houses lining the beautiful ocean water. It was gigantic beach house after another and she suddenly realized she had never been in this part of the Hamptons. The driver had his window rolled down and the scent of the ocean and the cool ocean breeze ran over her face as he drove down each road. Alex asked the cab driver to not pull in the driveway but instead to drop her off in the street as to avoid ruining the surprise. A few minutes later the driver slowed down and Alex knew they were close so she pulled out her phone and dialed Martins number. Suddenly the cab stopped and Alex was rushed with that nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach again. She hurriedly paid the cab driver, thanked him, and got out of the car. Martin answered the phone in a whisper.

"Alex, are you here?!"

"Yeah," she smiled, "I'm outside right now…"

"Ok! I'm coming, hold tight!" Martin said as he hung up the phone.

Alex waited for about a minute or so and then saw Martin walking towards her from the side of the house. He had a huge grin and was walking at a brisk pace, obviously too eager to wait any longer to get this surprise rolling.

"I cannot believe you are here right now!" He said with a big toothy grin as he went to put his arm around Alex's shoulders.

Alex laughed, "I know! This whole thing is crazy and so not like me, I'm a little nervous honestly…"

She hated that fact but she didn't want to hide it. She knew Martin would come up with something brilliant to say to ease her mind.

"Alex, believe me," he put his hand to his chest, "you have _nothing_ to be nervous about! Piper has still been talking about that damn picture all afternoon and I promise you being here PLUS the picture will absolutely make her day. You just wait and see the look on her face when she sees you and those sexy glasses she keeps talking about!" Martin laughed.

Alex blushed and fiddled with her glasses on her face. She didn't know what it was but there was something about those glasses that everybody always loved. She smiled at the thought of Piper feeling the same way.

"Come on, I'll take you straight up to her room, she just went up to get ready!"

"Where's Asher?" Alex asked as they started walking towards the house together.

"He's helping Pipers brother hang up lights…" Martin smiled and his eyes lit up at the same time.

"Wow, he sounds like a keeper!" Alex playfully bumped into Martins shoulder.

Martin smiled again, "Yeah, he's definitely been making a strong case for himself this weekend! He has been so great. I didn't even think he would want to come with me but he was excited. We're really having fun getting to know each other…"

"That's great Martin, I'm so happy for you, bud!"

"And I'M happy for YOU!" Martin said, tapping Alex on her shoulder.

They got up to the house and Alex was shocked at how even more enormous it looked standing next to it. It was white with light blue shudders around each window and she figured there had to be at least 10 windows on each floor, just on the front of the house alone. It was a two-story with an attic on top of the second story and Martin pointed out that their attic was a lot different from most people's attic. It was a beautiful room with a beautiful view of the ocean and Martin told Alex that's where he and Asher were staying for the weekend.

Martin suddenly stopped and looked at Alex, noticing all she had with her was the picture. "Where are your bags?!"

"Oh come on, Martin, can't seem too eager now can I!" Alex replied.

"Besides, she might not even have room for me, its fine if she wants me to go back tonight. I just wanted to help her out and bring her the picture. And seeing her gorgeous face is a bonus," Alex said with starry eyes.

Martin laughed, "Honey I promise she will not want you going back tonight. You look HOT!" he said with big eyes.

Alex blushed and shook her head.

They walked around to the back of the house and Alex saw another beautiful view of the ocean. She looked down towards the beach and noticed the fire pit where they must have had the bonfire the previous night. She smiled thinking back on the conversation she had with Piper after her too-many glasses of wine.

Martin led Alex into the house and there was so much going on, nobody would have ever noticed there was a new person walking through. There were caterers, a chef, and all sorts of other people running around putting up decorations and taking stuff out in the backyard to set up the tables. They walked through the kitchen, through the living room and stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

"Okay," Martin whispered and it made Alex chuckle at how serious he was taking this whole thing. He really did want them to be together, to be happy, and that meant the absolute world to Alex and she knew Piper felt the same way.

"…she's right upstairs, second door to the left. You'll know it's her door, there's a giant P hanging on the outside of it."

Alex suddenly got nervous again and could feel herself starting to sweat a little. She was so anxious about seeing Piper but there had been so much that happened between them over the past week that she wasn't sure if Piper would be as excited about the surprise.

Alex took a deep breath, exhaled and took a step up the stairs.

"Wait!" Martin said in a loud hushed tone.

Alex quickly jerked around and took a step back down the stairs. She stood in front of him once again and had a questioned look on her face.

"What is it?!"

Martin paused and smiled, "I have something for you….to give her," and before Alex could say anything back Martin ran into the den to grab it.

He was back in less than a minute and Alex was anxious to see what it was.

"I picked these up this morning, after our conversation, when me and Asher took a walk into town. I knew you wouldn't have time to stop and get some yourself and I didn't know if you knew or not but these are her absolute favorite…" Martin said with a smile.

He pulled the most beautiful bouquet of flowers from behind his back and handed them to Alex. Alex gasped and couldn't believe how exquisite they were. They were the most beautiful arrangement of yellow Hibiscus you've ever seen. They were perfectly bloomed and had a gorgeous bright red center.

"Martin, Oh my God!" Alex was in shock.

"You can pay me back later honey, now get your ass up there!" he said with a wink and pointed up the stairs.

Alex shook her head with a smile and gave Martin a hug, "thank you so much! They are absolutely beautiful."

"Yeah, well they aren't for you so hurry the hell up before they wilt!" he joked.

Alex nodded and turned for the stairs. There she was, just a few feet away from the love of her life and in that moment she couldn't believe how much her entire life had changed over the past week. Just over a week ago she was sleeping with random women, waking up to an empty bed, and repeating every weekend. She never realized how much she would really appreciate being with somebody until she met Piper. It wasn't about being in a relationship, it was about finding the right person to be in a relationship with and in that moment, standing on the stairs with the picture frame and flowers, Alex knew she had found her person.

' _There's no going back now',_ she thought, took a deep breath, and headed up the stairs.


	12. Chapter 12

Alex reached the top of the stairs and turned to see Martin had disappeared. Suddenly it was only her and she got that overwhelming nervous and excited feeling back in the pit of her stomach. She glanced down both sides of the long hallway and smirked when her eyes met the door with the "P" on it. She walked over to the door and heard music coming from the other side of it. She tilted her head and let out a small laugh, realizing what song it was. "Move and Groove" by Benny Latimore. _'Nice,'_ Alex thought with a smile.

Oh, they tell me you're a groover, mama!

Well, I just wanna groove with you.

So come on, let's move. (Move and groove)

Baby, let's groove. (Move and groove)

Come, on, let's move. (Move and groove)

Move and grove, together!

Listen, I hear you're a sweet talker.

Well, baby, I've got some sweet talk for you!

Yeah, you're a real cool walker, mama!

Well, I just wanna walk with you.

Alex knocked softly, a little too softly actually but by the time she lifted her hand from the door she didn't want to double knock so quickly; that'd be over-doing it for sure. A few seconds went by and nobody answered the door.

"Pipes," she said in her raspy voice.

Still no answer, she decided to knock a little harder this time. She took a deep breath, exhaled, and knocked loud enough for whoever was on the other side of that door to hear it.

"Just a minute!" Piper yelled over the music and Alex smiled widely at the sound of her voice.

Alex heard some fumbling around inside the bedroom and Piper yelled out, "Sorry just got out of the shower! Hang on just a second, I'm trying to find my robe…" and Alex's mind raced ferociously as she pictured Piper fresh out of the shower, looking for her robe to put on.

Piper turned the music down and went to answer the door. As she opened it she said, "I'm so sorry, I had no idea where…."

Piper's sentence abruptly halted as she tried to process how she was staring at Alex's perfectly exquisite green eyes directly in front of her.

"Hey, Pipes," Alex said with a huge ass grin.

"Wh-what in the world?!" Piper asked dramatically.

Alex, still smiling, slowly held up the picture frame and flowers and stared directly into Pipers eyes; the ones she had been picturing all week. The ones she dreamed about all week. _'My dreams have nothing on the real thing,'_ she thought.

Piper gasped and put her hands to her mouth once she registered what Alex was holding. .

Suddenly an enormous grin formed on the blondes face and her cheeks flushed. Alex had made her blush, yet again.

"You didn't…" Piper said with the same grin, hands still covering her mouth but Alex knew exactly what she said.

"These are for you, m'lady," Alex said with a small laugh and handed the frame and the flowers to Piper.

Pipers eyes were huge and obviously still in disbelief as she grabbed the items from Alex's hands. She looked both items over then looked directly up to Alex, still standing in the door frame of Pipers bedroom.

"How on earth did you even pull this off?!" Piper asked as they stood there.

"Well do I have to tell you the whole story standing in the hallway or are you going to invite me in?!" Alex asked with a smile.

"Of course! Come in, come in," Piper replied and ushered Alex into her bedroom.

Alex walked in her bedroom and shut the door behind her.

Piper was still in shock, "I just cannot believe you are standing here right now!" she said as she set the picture frame down and placed her flowers on top of her dresser.

Alex laughed, "It wouldn't have happened without Martin, you've gotta thank him at some point."

"I'm not worried about thanking Martin right now," Piper said back as she walked directly up to Alex and put her arms around Alex's neck.

At almost the exact same time, as if they had practiced it a million times, Alex put her hands around Pipers waist and they stared at each other for a few seconds.

"Hi," Piper said, almost in a whisper.

Alex smiled and couldn't take it anymore. She put both of her hands on Pipers cheeks and did the one thing she had been patiently waiting to do all week. She met Pipers lips with hers and kissed the blonde for the first time in way too long. Everything they had been through that week suddenly was far, far gone and both women were unbelievably elated to be kissing the other in that moment. The kiss heated up and after a few minutes Piper had to pull away just to catch her breath. There was something about the brunette, not just kissing her, that took Pipers breath away.

Piper fused her forehead with Alex's and both women smiled, absolutely overjoyed at being back together again, finally.

"I missed you so fucking much, Alex. I mean really, all I thought about was you…I'm sorry it took me so long but I just had to have some time you know?" Piper said, twirling her fingers through Alex's long dark hair.

"I would've waited forever for you, kid," Alex said and kissed Piper again, moving her hands from Pipers face, to her neck, to her shoulders, to her arms. Both women felt butterflies throughout their impeccable kiss and both hoped those butterflies would never go away.

A few minutes later Piper had to pull back again and catch her breath. She sighed and walked towards the radio, turning it back up.

As Piper walked towards the radio, Alex walked up to the edge of Pipers bed and sat down. Alex heard the same song from earlier and smiled again. Piper turned to face Alex and teasingly danced along to the music, staring at Alex on the bed. Alex shook her head with a smile, mouthed the words 'come here' and motioned for Piper to walk over to the bed. Piper walked slowly towards Alex and Alex smiled a little sarcastically, she could tell the blonde was drawing it out as much as she could. Alex didn't mind though, the view was exquisite.

Piper finally made her way to Alex and she stood up immediately. Piper instantly lifted Alex's shirt and threw it on the floor. Looking directly into her perfectly blue eyes, Alex untied Pipers robe and let it fall down on the floor.

Finally Alex was able to be her true self with the blonde and show her exactly how she felt about her and Piper was more than ready to experience it with Alex. They both completely lost track of time and neither one of them seemed to care one bit. After they each made sure the other was entirely satisfied, a couple of times, they both laid in Pipers bed with her sheets wrapped around them, both smiling profusely and breathing heavily.

Alex had both arms completely wrapped around Piper and Piper had her hands on top of Alex's. Alex kissed the side of the blondes head and sighed.

"Oh my God, I can't believe I just jumped you like that," Piper said with a sly grin.

Alex smiled, "Believe me, the entire cab ride up here that's exactly what I hoped your reaction would be," she said playfully.

"Really? You thought about it?" Piper said, rolling over in the bed to face the brunette. Their hands still interlocked with each other. They were constantly touching each other, somehow.

"Absolutely!" Alex replied.

"…more than once!" she added with a smile.

Piper blushed again and shook her head, "me too," she said with a smile.

"You've been my only thought since I met you, Pipes. There hasn't been anything else on my mind but you," Alex said with a straight face, looking, yet again, directly into the blondes perfect blue eyes.

Piper sighed with a smile and leaned in to kiss the brunette.

They kissed for a few more minutes laying there, tangled up in each other. Suddenly Piper pulled back and Alex squinted her eyes and wrinkled her forehead, she definitely was not finished with that kiss.

"Shit!" Piper blurted out and started getting out of the bed.

"Shit, shit shit!" she said, again.

Alex halfway sat up and asked, "What?!"

Piper walked around her room picked up her robe, bra and panties and ran into her bathroom.

"My parent's party! I totally lost track of time," she yelled back at Alex who still sat half-way up in Pipers bed.

Alex wasn't sure what to do in this moment. If she was going to the party she definitely wanted to shower first but she didn't want to assume she had an invitation.

As if she read her mind, Piper started the shower a few seconds later and popped her head back into her bedroom, "Well, don't you want a shower, too?" she asked with a smile.

Alex's eyes widened and she jumped out of the bed faster than she had ever left a bed before.

An hour later they were both refreshed and almost ready to go downstairs. Piper was putting on her earrings and remembered she needed help zipping up the back of her dress. She walked over to Alex and asked for help.

"Zip me up?" Piper asked, turning her back to the brunette.

Alex was already dressed, sitting on the couch in Pipers room, waiting for her to finish up. She stood up and started zipping up the back of Pipers dress but before she zipped it all the way she kissed Pipers shoulders a few times, in different spots, and Piper grinned.

Piper spun around and twirled in front of Alex to show off her dress.

"I'm ready!" she said as she spun.

"Wow, you are absolutely gorgeous babe," Alex replied, completely entranced by the beautiful woman standing in front of her.

Piper kissed Alex and smiled, "Thank you, you are beautiful yourself," she said as she grabbed the brunettes hand and squeezed it.

Piper went back into her bathroom to do her finishing touches and Alex followed her.

"Piper, there's something I wanted to talk to you about," Alex said shyly.

"What's that?" Piper asked, looking in the mirror at herself and sprucing up her hair.

Alex grabbed Pipers waist and spun her so she was facing Alex. She put her hands around the blonde's waist and smiled.

"Well, I know we've only known each other for a little over a week now but I swear my life changed the moment I first saw you," Alex was the one blushing now, thinking back on the first time she saw the beautiful blue-eyed blonde.

Piper smiled, staring deeply into Alex's perfectly green eyes.

"…I'm not good at stuff like this, mostly because I don't have much practice with it, but I want us to make this official, Pipes. What do you think?" Alex stared into Pipers eyes with a big smile.

Piper smiled widely, too, and tilted her head, "Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?"

"If you say yes, then fuck yeah I am. If you say no…"

"Yes! Of course I will be your girlfriend, Alex," Piper replied with a massive smile before the brunette could finish her sentence.

Alex smiled and kissed the blonde for the hundredth time that day. They both laughed and kissed and laughed and kissed for a few more minutes. They were enormously happy to have finally made it official and they were both equally thrilled to be able to call the other their girlfriend.

Piper turned to face the mirror one last time and said, "Ok, I think I'm finally ready! Are you ready?"

"I've been ready! Waiting on you…" Alex smirked.

"Are you sure you even want to come to this? I mean you hardly know anybody! I'm going to have to mingle and talk to a bunch of old people all night wishing I was only talking to you," Piper said and wrapped her arms around Alex again.

"Believe me," Alex replied, twirling her fingers in the blonde's hair, "I wish that too but I'm excited to meet everyone! It'll be a fun night. Plus I'll have Martin to talk to if you run too far away from me," Alex joked.

Suddenly the thought of Alex meeting her parents hit Piper and she froze.

"What is it?" Alex could tell something had changed by the look on the blondes face.

"Well," Piper said nervously, "…my parents aren't the best at being supportive, would you mind keeping the whole girlfriend thing to ourselves tonight?"

Piper hated doing this to Alex after everything the brunette had done for her that day but she had no choice. Nothing Piper or Alex could say would change her parent's minds and Piper didn't feel like starting an argument about it with them at their anniversary party.

Alex completely understood. She knew there were people out there that didn't support everyone's happiness. She hated that two of those people happened to be her girlfriend's parents but she knew there was nothing she could do to change their minds in one night so she decided to not let it bother her one bit. She was too excited, anyways, about her new, gorgeous, blonde girlfriend.

"Absolutely babe, it's not a problem. I can just be your "friend" tonight in front of the crowd. That okay?" Alex replied.

Piper shook her head, "No it's not okay but it's our only choice for tonight…I absolutely hate this! I'm so sorry…"

"Pipes, its fine I promise! It doesn't bother me. As long as you're happy with me, that's all that matters…" Alex said and pushed a lock of blonde hair behind Pipers ear.

Piper grabbed her forearm and kissed her wrist, "I'm beyond happy with you Alex, I hope you know that…"

Alex grinned and shook her head, blushing again.

"Okay! Let's get to the party!" Piper said playfully and grabbed the picture frame that Alex brought.

"I still can't believe you brought this all the way to me from my apartment," Piper said with a grin, looking back at Alex.

"Anything for you, babe," Alex said with a wink.

Alex would never tell Piper but she was definitely nervous about that night. It was basically an enormous house full of a bunch of people that wouldn't approve of her relationship with Piper. She was terribly disappointed in that but she would rather be her "friend" for the night than nothing at all. It was their first official night being in a relationship and Alex wished she was able to go up and kiss the blonde or grab her hand whenever she wanted. She decided to come up with a plan of action with Piper when the feeling arose to do either of those things and they couldn't.

Piper opened her door and Alex grabbed her arm and pulled her back in the room.

"What?" Piper asked.

"Okay, so tonight, when I do want to kiss you or grab your hand and I can't…let's come up with a plan to let each other know…" Alex trailed off in thought, trying to come up with something and suddenly it hit her how ridiculous she just sounded. Her "old self" would have kicked her ass for saying something like that but she didn't care. Something about this beautiful blonde made Alex a softie and she didn't mind one bit, in fact she embraced every ounce of it.

Piper smiled and stared Alex, "You are seriously the cutest thing in the world right now!" as she walked up to Alex and stole a few kisses.

Alex laughed, "I'm being serious! All I'm going to want to do all night is kiss you or at least hold your hand and I'm not going to be able to…so let's come up with a sign to let each other know we're wishing we could be more public…"

Piper smiled and shook her head, absolutely smitten with the brunette in this moment.

"Okay! A sign…hmmmm," Piper said, trying to sound serious but she couldn't get over how adorable Alex was being.

They both stood there for a few seconds, only a few inches away from each other, and desperately tried to come up with a sign.

"I know!" Piper finally said and Alex looked at her with a questioned look.

"We can tug on the bottom of our ear," Piper said with a smile.

"That's too baseball-y!" Alex replied and shook her head.

"Come on! It'll be fun, plus I don't hear you coming up with any ideas!" Piper teased the brunette.

Alex playfully glared at those blue eyes and finally gave in.

"Okay, fine…baseball sign it is," Alex said.

"Baseball sign it is!" Piper laughed and kissed her.

"Okay, we seriously have to go now!" Piper said with a panic now in her voice.

"Right behind you, "friend"," Alex said and slapped Piper on the ass as she walked out of her door.

Piper turned before heading down the stairs and glared at Alex.

Alex said softly, "What? It was a play on the whole baseball thing!" with a wide grin.

"Mhmmm!" Piper said with a shake of her head and turned to walk down the stairs.

Alex followed her down the stairs but not too closely, they were back in "friend" mode now and Alex hated that more than anything. She knew it was what had to be done for the night though so she sucked it up and did whatever she needed to do to keep Piper happy. She walked around with the blonde for a little bit while Piper made some last minute finishing touches around the house. Random people would walk up to Piper and ask where so-and-so was or ask where to put something and Piper knew every answer to every question. Alex fell even more for Piper, watching her work intently but also watching her take control of the entire situation. She definitely was the one in charge for the night and Alex was proud to be her girlfriend.

Alex looked around a few times for Martin and Asher but never saw them. She decided she'd give Piper some space once she found them but stayed with the blonde until then. Piper was running around like a chicken with her head cut off and Alex was always a little ways behind her, helping in any way that she could. The last thing that needed to be done inside the house was the hanging of the "Happy Anniversary!" banner. Alex wanted to help so she volunteered and Piper smiled. She loved the fact that Alex cared enough about her to help out. It meant a lot to the blonde and she discreetly tugged on her ear with a smile.

Alex couldn't help but laugh slightly and tugged on her ear, too. They both smiled and looked away, breaking their stare. They knew if they stared at each other too long it would be easy for anybody in that room to know something was going on between them.

"Cal!" Piper called out to a large man with blonde hair running around almost as crazy as Piper was.

Cal walked over and stood by the two women, "what's up?" he asked.

"Can you help us hang the banner? I want to get it hung before anybody else shows up," Piper said, obviously frustrated that they had too many guests arriving already.

"Sure! Where do you want it?"

"Over there on the windows," Piper replied and pointed to the ginormous windows facing the ocean.

"…Alex is going to help you," Piper said and an older lady walked up and asked Piper about where to get extra chairs for the tables outside.

"There should be plenty of chairs already out there," Piper replied and ran off, headed outside to sort out the problem. The older lady followed behind Piper and suddenly it was Cal and Alex standing there with the banner.

"Uhhh, I'm guessing you're Alex?" Cal asked the brunette.

Alex let out a small laugh, "yeah, that's me, and you're Cal?"

"Yup! The youngest Chapman," he laughed. He had always been given a hard time for being the youngest but the sturdiest of the bunch. He was a fun guy to be around and everyone loved Cal.

"Oh! You're Pipers brother?" Alex put two and two together and was thrilled to finally meet someone from her girlfriend's family. _'Too bad I can't tell you I'm dating your sister,'_ she thought and shook her head.

"Yup! Wait, what'd she say about me?" Cal asked jokingly.

"Nothing!" Alex shook her head, "I'm just glad to finally meet someone from Pipers family," Alex replied.

Cal picked up the banner from the table and walked towards the windows he was directed to hang it from.

"So how do you know my _lovely_ sister?" Cal asked with a smile.

' _If only he knew how lovely I really think she is',_ Alex thought with a smile.

Alex had really never even thought about how to answer that question until that moment. She fumbled around with her words for a second then thankfully Martin and Asher walked up and saved her from saying the wrong thing.

"Alex!" Martin said with big eyes and a smile as he walked up to her.

"Hey," Alex replied with a grin.

"Hey Asher," she said to the tall, slender, man standing behind Martin.

Asher waved, "Hey honey!"

Alex turned back to Cal and helped him raise the banner by the windows. She was glad Cal didn't repeat his question and asked Martin to help them make sure the sign was even on both sides.

"That'll work, thanks for the help!" Cal said as he raised up a hand to high five Alex.

Alex smiled and high fived her girlfriends brother. It was lame but she felt like that meant he liked her at least a little bit. _'That's a good sign',_ she thought with a grin.

"Piper!" Cal ran off after his sister to help her solve the chair dilemma and Alex stayed back with Martin and Asher.

"Well, don't you two gentlemen look very handsome this evening!" Alex said with a smile to the two men standing in front of her.

"Cut the shit Alex," Martin joked. "I want every, damn, detail right this minute!"

Alex laughed and shook her head, "I don't kiss and tell…" she replied teasingly, playing with her glasses on her face.

Both men's eyes grew huge and Martin's jaw dropped a little bit.

"OH my God I KNEW it! You've got some pretty slick moves!" Martin said.

"You'll have to ask Piper about my moves later on," Alex said and busted out with a huge laugh. Both men laughed too and suddenly Martin came up with an idea.

"OH MY GOD! DOUBLE DATE!" He said in a yell and Alex and Asher both shushed him.

"Shut the fuck up!" Alex smiled, with a whisper.

"What? I can't talk about my two favorite people in the world finally hooking up?!" Martin asked, almost insulted by the whole thing.

"Absolutely not! Not here, not tonight," Alex answered, looking around for anyone that was still listening to their conversation after Martin's yelling episode.

It took Martin a few seconds but he caught on pretty quick. Piper had talked with him about her parents views before and he always knew to keep the PDA down to a bare-minimum anytime they were around.

"Ohhhhh," Martin finally said after a few seconds.

"Yeah," Alex replied with a roll of her eyes.

"Wow, you just got her back and now you already have to pretend you don't have her anymore…" he trailed off in thought.

"Thanks for that, Captain Obvious," Alex replied sarcastically.

Martin put his arm around Alex's shoulder, "It's fine! We'll be here all night, you can be our third wheel!"

Alex shook her head and turned to find Piper. She knew Piper was already pulled from her for the entire night pretty much but she still wanted to look at her every now and then.

Martin turned to Asher, "Is that not the cutest thing in the world?"

Asher shook his head 'yes' and they both watched Alex find Piper with her eyes.

Piper was in mid-conversation with somebody outside by the tables but looked inside at Alex at the same time the brunette found her. They both smiled and tugged slightly on their ear as they gazed at each other.

Alex smiled and turned back to face Martin and Asher. She walked closer to them so they could hear her whisper.

"I may or may not have asked her to be my girlfriend," Alex admitted with big eyes and an even bigger smile.

Both men gasped and Martin put a hand to his face.

"Oh my God, I think I'm gonna cry," Martin replied with a straight face.

Alex smiled widely, "She said yes!"

Martin smiled and shook his head, "Okay, now I'm definitely going to cry!"

Asher looked at Martin, "You old-softie," and squeezed Martins pinky as subtle as he could. Asher knew too, just like Alex, that PDA in front of the Chapman's wasn't a good idea.

Martin smiled at Asher and glanced back at Alex, "Alex that is so great! I seriously can't wait to see you two happy together."

Alex smiled widely again, thinking about the future and being happy with the blonde, "Me neither."

It was almost time for dinner to be served so the three of them walked outside and grabbed a drink. Martin and Asher stuck with wine, their poison of choice for the entire weekend, and Alex went with her new favorite thanks to Asher, double jack and coke with a little bit of cherry juice.

They grabbed their drinks and found their spots at the gigantic table. Each place had a name in front of it and Alex smiled when she saw hers next to Pipers. She didn't think they would be able to sit next to each other since Alex surprised Piper so last minute. Alex smiled at the thought of Piper moving people around so she could sit by her. She sighed and couldn't believe how already absolutely entranced she was with the blonde.

Martin and Asher found their spots, on the other side of Alex and she was definitely happy about that, too. She normally did fine in situations where she didn't know many people but this was a completely different ballgame. Being surrounded by your girlfriend's family that you don't know at all and yet you can't even act like she's your girlfriend was proving to be a hard task for Alex. She quickly finished drink number one and ordered a second one as everyone started finding their seats at the table.

Piper walked up to Alex and tapped on her shoulder.

"Alex," Piper said in a tone that Alex didn't recognize, she could tell it was a front, "I want to introduce you to my parents!"

Alex stood and turned to see two older people standing directly beside Piper with small grins on their faces.

"Mom, Daddy, this is Alex," Piper said with a smile and subtly tugged her ear.

That drove the brunette absolutely insane and it took her a second to collect her thoughts. All she wanted to do in that moment was grab Pipers hand or kiss her cheek but she couldn't. _'This is so fucking hard,'_ she thought and glared at the blonde. Piper glared back, insulted Alex didn't tug on her ear back to the blonde's playful move. Alex smiled sarcastically and snapped back to the moment they were in with her girlfriend's parents.

"Mr. and Mrs. Chapman, it's so great to meet you," Alex said and reached her hand out to shake Piper's dads hand then her moms.

"We've heard wonderful things about you Alex, it's so nice to meet you," Piper's mom commented.

Alex smiled, "Happy Anniversary! Your house is beautiful by the way, I've never been to a house directly on the ocean in the Hamptons before. I could stare at that beautiful view of the ocean all day long."

"Well honey you should see it at sunrise. It's absolutely breathtaking! Get Piper to show you our spot where we always watch it." Her mom replied with a soft smile.

' _Guess that means I'm spending the night?'_ Alex thought with a grin.

"I'd love to show her," Piper said, staring at the brunette with a cheesy smile. She tried so unbelievably hard but it was no use in that moment. Seeing her absolutely stunning girlfriend talking to her parents at their gorgeous house on the beach was a moment she'd always remember. Her undeniably favorite thing was the way Alex looked that night. She had loved the way she looked every time she saw her but there was something specifically special about Alex's sparkly demeanor that night and Piper couldn't think of anything that would cause that other than their recent relationship status change. She smiled just thinking about Alex being _her_ girlfriend.

Alex stared back at the blonde and looked forward to watching a sunrise with her on the beach.

"It was wonderful to meet you, dear," Piper's mom said as she and Piper's dad turned to walk away. Piper's dad never said a word, he just smiled slightly at Alex and she suddenly worried that maybe they weren't as good at keeping their relationship a secret as they thought they were.

Piper's parents walked off and found their seats across the table from Piper and Cal, who sat on the other side of Piper. Alex was especially glad Martin and Asher were sitting next to her now, knowing Piper's parents were sitting so close to them.

Once Piper's parents sat down everyone else followed suite and shortly after the salads and bread were served. It was an absolutely breathtaking view with the ocean, the sunset, and the white lights lighting up the trees and hung throughout the air. Alex had never seen anything this nice before and felt proud of her girlfriend again. She worked so hard and it all paid off so well. It was absolutely a lovely night.

Piper spoke with her parents and brother mostly but every now and then she turned and gave Alex a smile or commented lightly about some random, generic topic.

Across from Alex was Pipers grandmother and Alex introduced herself to her once the appetizers were served. Piper was in deep conversation with her brother about his wife's weird job but she always kept an ear to Alex and what she was saying. She smiled when she heard Alex introduce herself to her grandmother. She had never even spoken to Alex about her grandmother yet but she loved the fact that Alex was so willing to introduce herself just to be polite.

Throughout the meal it became physically impossible for both of them to not touch each other here and there. At first it started off as a slight touch of the foot or leg and by the time everyone was on their third drink of the night, Alex was "accidently" dropping her napkin on the floor, only to rub her hand along Pipers thigh as she slightly bent over and picked it up. At one point, after everyone was done eating, Alex was in deep conversation with Martin and Asher, all three laughing hysterically about something, and Piper wanted in on the conversation so bad she stood up and moved her chair to sit sideways behind Alex and Martins chairs.

"What are we laughing so hard about?" Piper asked with sad voice, clearly feeling as if she was being left out on their fun night.

"Oh nothing, Pipes," Alex said, still giggling at the joke Martin had just delivered perfectly.

"Pipes?" Martin asked, turning his head towards Alex.

"…seriously? With the cute nicknames already?!" he smiled.

They all laughed slightly but realized quickly where they were. They had to do a better job of being secretive or this was all going to go up in flames at the wrong place and time.

Alex turned her chair more to face Piper and Martin and Asher turned theirs, too, so now they were pretty much sitting in a circle.

"Hand me my drink please, Al," Piper asked her girlfriend.

"Anything for you schnookums," Alex replied with a whisper and a laugh.

She turned, grabbed Pipers wine glass from the table and turned back towards the blonde to hand it to her. "Did you just call me schnookums?" Piper asked with a laugh as she grabbed her glass.

Martin and Asher absolutely lost it at the second use of the word schnookums. They were still laughing when Alex responded.

"I did but it was between quotes," she said with a smile.

"I didn't hear any quotes, love muffin," Piper whispered back to the brunette.

Alex laughed and tugged her ear, several times. There was something about the way the blonde flirted that absolutely drove Alex insane. Flirted, talked, basically the way she breathed drove Alex crazy. She saw hearts every time she looked at the blonde.

Piper glared at Alex with big eyes and announced she needed to go to the bathroom.

"Alex, don't you need to go to the bathroom, too?" Piper asked her.

Alex took a drink, "Not really…" and shook her head.

Piper glared at her even harder and Alex changed her answer real quick.

"Wait, I mean absolutely, I've got to go really bad," she said with a small laugh.

Martin and Asher smiled and rolled their eyes and told them they'd meet them on the beach at the bonfire when they came back outside. Since dinner was now over, everyone was slowly getting up and making their way to the beach to get ready for the bonfire that night. Alex and Piper had some business to take care of before they made their way to the beach, though.

* * *

Thank you all so much for your love and support of the story! It means so much! Keep it coming :) xoxo


	13. Chapter 13

The two women stood up at the exact same time and smiled at each other. Alex couldn't help but smile every damn time she looked at the blonde, and Piper felt the same way about Alex. There was something about them, being together, that immediately improved both of their lives and they both felt it from the start.

They walked towards the house, trying not to stand too close together as they walked but it was as if gravity was pushing them towards each other. As they walked in the door they were met by a few members of Pipers family. Piper's cousin, Ethan, was about 5 sheets to the wind at this point of the party and a very vocal young man pretty much all the time. Ethan was in his mid-twenties, finishing up college at NYU.

Alex noticed Piper was visibly frustrated once she realized her family was standing in their way. Piper knew at least one of them would have a few things to say and she was not in the mood to talk about the party right now. She had something else on her mind at the moment.

"Piper!" her cousin Ethan yelled out as soon as the blonde walked in the door.

"Hey Ethan," she replied.

Ethan walked over to them, "What a fun party, right?! You're so awesome for putting all of this together!"

Piper smiled at the compliment and shook her head up and down. She had received several compliments about everything that night and she was grateful to have such a loving family.

"So glad you're having fun, Ethan. I'm supposed to be finding some blankets to take to the bonfire," Piper said as she started walking past him, "you guys go ahead and head down there and we'll catch up later!"

Alex followed behind Piper with a smile but was forcibly stopped dead in her tracks when Ethan stepped in front of her with a gigantic grin.

"And who are you? I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting you before," Ethan said, getting lost in Alex's perfect eyes.

Piper heard his comment to her girlfriend and stopped walking away from them. She could tell by the tone in his voice where this conversation with Alex was going and she watched in annoyance.

Alex scoffed, "I'm Alex," and tried to walk around him to catch back up with Piper.

"Woah, where's the fire? Why are you in such a hurry to go somewhere?" Ethan joked.

' _If only he really knew why I was in a hurry,'_ Alex thought and let out a small laugh.

"I have to pee," she said with a smile.

As if he didn't even hear a word she said, Ethan took a step towards Alex and looked her up and down, slowly.

"You, are, absolutely, breathtakingly, gorgeous…has anybody ever told you that before?" Ethan said as he stepped even closer to the brunette.

Alex let out a smile, shook her head, and looked off. She noticed Piper glaring at them and she did not look happy at all.

"You know," Ethan said as he went to push Alex's hair behind her ear.

"Look, don't touch me okay?" Alex quickly replied with a straight face, not letting him finish his sentence. She jerked away from him and took a step back.

Piper couldn't take another second of watching her cousin hit on her girlfriend so she quickly walked back up to him and put a stop to it immediately.

"Ethan, it's time for you to go outside for the bonfire…" she said as she stared him down.

Ethan laughed and put his hands up as if he was surrendering.

"Alright Piper, fine, but you have to admit she is the sexiest person you have ever seen!" he smiled as he walked outside. The rest of the group standing there followed him outside and both women were unbelievably glad to be alone again, finally.

Piper turned to Alex, "Sorry," she said softly.

"It's fine Piper, he's just a drunk kid, no big deal…"

"It's a big deal to me!" Piper snapped back at the brunette and walked off, towards the den.

Alex stood there for a second, not sure what to do. She knew she didn't do anything wrong so she walked towards the blonde, following her into the den.

"Pipes, that sort of stuff happens all the time, and I'm sure it happens all the time with you, too!" Alex said as she walked into the den.

"That's not the problem Alex…" Piper replied softly.

"…my cousin just completely hit on you in front of me and there was nothing I could do about it. If my family wasn't so shallow and ignorant then they'd know you're my girlfriend and he would have never done that. But no, we're having to pretend we're just fucking friends…I just hate this so much…I'm sorry…" Piper said as she sat on the couch and stared at the brunette standing in front of her.

"What are you sorry about, you haven't done anything wrong! Look, I hate this, too…" Alex replied.

She absolutely hated seeing her girlfriend so upset and hated just as much the fact that there was pretty much nothing she could do to solve the problem for her.

"…but the way I look at it, this is better than us not being together at all, right? I mean, believe me, all I've wanted to do all night is kiss you or grab your hand or put my arm around you but I can't and that is torture for me, but I can suck it up and deal with it because our other option is to not be together…and really that's not an option at all at this point," Alex said with a hint of a smile as she sat down on the couch next to the blonde.

Piper looked over at the brunette, smiled and rested her head on her shoulder. Alex placed her hand on the blonde's thigh and neither of them moved or talked for a few minutes. They just sat there in silence, taking in everything that had happened that day.

Alex leaned over and kissed Pipers forehead after a few minutes and the blonde sat up straight with a smile.

"You know," Piper said, looking directly into her girlfriends perfectly green eyes, "I don't think anybody else is in the house right now, I'm pretty sure they're all down at the beach…" she said with a sly smile.

Alex smiled widely with a raise of one of her eyebrows. She knew exactly what the blonde was hinting at but decided to play with her mind before it became impossible for her to deny the blonde any longer.

"Yeah, we should really get to finding those blankets," Alex said with a sarcastic smile as she stood up.

"Sit your ass down right now," Piper played back, knowing what the intentions of her girlfriend were.

She pulled on Alex's hand which made her lose her balance and she fell backwards, back onto the couch.

Alex laughed and said, "I don't want us to get caught Pipes, it could be disastrous," as Piper leaned in and kissed Alex's face softly a few times as her girlfriend came up with excuses.

"Nobody is getting caught!" Piper said as she stood up and walked away from the couch.

"Wait, where are you going? Pretty sure this is a two person job…" Alex said with a loud laugh.

Piper laughed at her girlfriends joke and shook her head as she walked towards the doors.

"It's not _always_ a two person job, if you really want to get technical," Piper said playfully, her back to the brunette as she pulled both doors shut and locked them.

The blonde turned and started walking back to the couch where Alex was sitting and suddenly both women had a flashback to earlier in the day when they were up in Pipers bedroom. They both smiled at each other and Alex couldn't wait to put her hands on the blonde any longer.

She stood up and met the blonde halfway, placing both hands on her face and kissed her as if that was the only thing keeping her alive in that moment. Piper put her hands around Alex's waist and pulled her in closer.

They got lost in their perfect kiss for a few minutes and then Alex pulled away. Neither of them spoke verbally but as if they spoke subconsciously, they both removed their shirts and threw them to the side. Closing the gap between them again they continued their kiss a little while longer before Alex pulled away slightly and started kissing the length of Pipers neck.

Piper let out a sigh, "I could absolutely get used to this…" she said as she closed her eyes and took in every ounce of the perfect moment she was having with her perfect girlfriend.

Hearing Piper sigh while she kissed her was like music to Alex's ears. There was something about every sound she made that drove Alex crazy and all she wanted was more and more of it.

Alex lifted her head, smiled, and placed another deep kiss directly on the blonde's lips. They couldn't help but get caught up in each other so easily every time they kissed. They were each other's drug and neither of them ever wanted to become sober.

Alex moved her hands up and down the blondes back, undoing the blonde's bra when all of a sudden there was a loud knock on the doors.

"Piper!" Piper's mom yelled.

Both women pulled apart immediately and froze. Their eyes got big and they stood there in silence.

Piper put up a finger to her mouth as if to tell Alex not to say a word. Alex stood there, frozen, staring at the blonde, waiting to be told what to do next. They both stood there in frozen silence for a few more seconds before there was another loud knock on the door.

"Piper! I know you're in there!" Piper's mom sounded really frustrated now.

Alex's eyes got big and her thoughts immediately went wild, _'This is it! This is how I get murdered',_ she thought. She was suddenly hit with the memory of a conversation she had with her crazy-haired best friend a long time ago.

" _I swear to God Vause that's how you're gonna die!" Nicky said while downing the remains of her beer and laughing uncontrollably._

" _Fuck off Nicky!" Alex replied back with a laugh._

" _No, I'm serious man, I've got it all pictured in my head! You're gonna woo some fine ass chick at a bar, take her back to her place, feel her up a few times, play some tonsil-hockey, ya know? Then, all of a sudden an angry boyfriend or an angry parent walks in and BOOM! That's it, that's how you're gonna die!" Nicky said with a loud laugh._

 _Alex shook her head and laughed, "And why would I die? Can't I just run down the fire escape or something?"_

" _Well, you would try but you're gonna have your tongue shoved so far down her throat you won't even realize you need to be in defense mode by the time you're head gets blown off!" Nicky said dramatically._

" _You are literally a lunatic, like you're insane. Where the fuck do you come up with this shit?" Alex asked with a grin._

" _Hey I'm just saying! You're the type of person that gets caught with the person that isn't supposed to be getting caught…because, well, you're you and every fucking person on this planet gets weak at the knees when they look at your Sasquatch ass! Me, on the other hand, I can't stand the sight of you but ya know, I do what I can for the needy!" Nicky said as she playfully shoved the brunette._

 _Alex couldn't help but to laugh at her best friend, "You're one to talk…you're like Pippen and Merry from Lord of The Rings! I don't remember which one is more annoying though," Alex quipped with a laugh._

Suddenly Alex snapped back to reality and quickly remembered having to be still and quiet. It was hard though, the memory of her and her best friend made her let out a small laugh and Piper glared at her with her big beautiful blue eyes.

Piper rolled her eyes at her mom's last sentence and mothed the word 'SHIT'.

She quickly turned around to made Alex clasp her bra back together and both women had their shirts on in a matter of about 5 seconds. They took a deep breath, walked towards the doors and Piper mothed 'I'm sorry' to Alex as she opened them.

"Well, finally! What on earth were you two doing in here?" her mom asked, glaring at Piper.

"We, uh…" Piper stumbled.

Alex chimed in at the perfect time, "She was showing me your collection of first edition novels, it really is quite impressive Mrs. Chapman," she said with a smile as she fumbled with her glasses on her face.

Piper looked over at Alex with a questioned look, not remembering telling Alex about her mom's massive collection of first edition novels.

"Oh," Carol said with a surprised smile.

"You like to read, too?" she asked the brunette.

"Absolutely, I'll pretty much read anything I can get my hands on," Alex said with a laugh.

Piper stood there, amazed at how quick on her feet her girlfriend was. She smiled as the other two people standing there talked about their favorite books. Piper watched Alex closely, amazed at how good she was with her words. She was so smart and it was obvious in this moment. Piper suddenly felt proud at calling Alex her girlfriend, the girl who was beautiful and sexy beyond words and yet also extremely intelligent. Piper couldn't remember the last time she was so captivated by another human being. She stared at Alex with heart eyes as she spoke to her mom and gently pulled on her ear to show Alex what she really wanted to be doing right that second. Piper saw a small smile form on the corner of Alex's mouth.

"Well, Piper, I was told to come find you because we're doing the toast!" her mom said.

' _Ohhh, the fucking toast! How could I forget!'_ Piper thought to herself.

"Right the toast! We'll be out in a second, mom," she said with a smile.

"Well you girls just take your time because I have to use the ladies room," Carol said and turned to walk away.

Quickly turning back towards the two standing there in the doorway, she said, "Oh, and Alex, feel free to borrow any of my books that you want to! I love sharing them with people that _actually like_ reading," she said as she looked at Piper with a smile.

"Wow, thank you Mrs. Chapman!" Alex replied as Carol walked away.

Both women stood there for a few seconds before moving to give Pipers mom enough time to walk down the hall. Piper turned to close the doors again and Alex stopped her.

"Pipes, we can't…you have no idea how much I want to right now but we can't…save it for later tonight when it's just me and you," the brunette said teasingly.

Piper tilted her head and glared at the brunette, "You have got to be kidding me! She just told us to take our time, I like to think of that as a green light," she joked as she walked directly up to the brunette and clasped her hands behind her neck.

Alex shook her head with a grin, "That was not the same green light that you are looking for, I promise!" she said with a laugh.

"You don't want to? Fine, I understand," Piper said turning away from her girlfriend, knowing that would stir up a reaction from her.

"You are trying to get me to react to that by ripping your clothes off and it's not going to happen, Pipes…" Alex said with a laugh.

"YOU ARE NO FUN! Also, you know me way better than I thought you did," Piper said as she walked back up to her and kissed the brunette a few times.

Piper let out a big sigh and groaned, realizing there wasn't anything she could do to change her girlfriends mind.

"Believe me, all I want to do right now is close those doors and pick back up where we left off but that was extremely dangerous, we could have gotten caught…"

"I like being dangerous with you," Piper said softly, looking up into the brunettes perfectly green eyes and running her fingers through Alex's long dark hair.

Alex laughed, "Oh my God you are killing me! Seriously stop before my fucking head explodes…"

Piper laughed back and stepped away from the brunette, knowing that would help but also knowing that was the one thing neither of them really wanted in that moment.

"Okay fine! No fun right now but later on tonight…" Piper said with big eyes and a smile.

"Later on tonight! Promise," Alex smiled and kissed the blonde. She didn't think about kissing her, it was just a reaction. Every time she saw the blonde smile that's all she wanted to do.

"Alright let's go to the bonfire, I'm excited!" Alex said with a wide grin as she clapped her hands together.

"Please, Alex, you don't have to act excited about a lame bonfire…" Piper said as they walked down the hallway.

"I am excited! Honestly I really am, I've never been to a bonfire on a beach before…" Alex replied.

"…wanna be my blanket buddy?" the brunette whispered into the Pipers ear.

Piper stopped and smiled at the brunette, "Absolutely! That reminds me, I need to grab a few extras while we're inside, just in case…" and she walked around the living room grabbing the few blankets she could find.

"These'll work," she said as she handed a few to Alex to carry.

Piper looked up at Alex, noticing she had been staring at her ever since she went to pick up the blankets around the room.

"What?!" the blonde asked.

Alex smiled and looked off, blushing at being caught staring at her beautiful girlfriend.

Not hearing an answer, Piper asked again, "What is it, Alex?" with a head tilt.

Alex looked back over at Piper, "You are absolutely gorgeous, you know that right?"

Piper blushed and smiled, "You need to stop looking at me like that before something happens, and we can't, because we're in front of all these windows…."

"I can't help it Pipes…" Alex replied, still staring at the blonde.

"Well you need to help it and you need to control it right now…only for a few more hours!" Piper said as she opened the door outside and waited until the brunette walked through the door to shut it. She saw Alex sigh deeply before she walked through the door and thought about how sweet she had just been in that moment with her. Nobody had ever done that to Piper, stopped her in the middle of something and told her how gorgeous she was. She felt so lucky to be wanted and adored by Alex, it brought an enormous cheesy smile to her face.

They made their way down to the beach and Martin and Asher had saved two chairs for the two women directly beside them.

"Finally!" Martin called out as they made their way to their chairs.

"Jesus, Alex you could have sped it up a little bit…" Martin joked with a whisper and Asher laughed.

"Nothing happened…" Alex quickly shut down the innuendo.

"Uh oh…trouble in paradise again….already?!" Martin asked both women and waited for a response from either one.

"No! Absolutely not, just not the time or place right now Martin you know that," Piper replied quietly and walked over to her family to visit with them for a little bit.

Martin looked at Alex for her reaction and he saw her roll her eyes with a smile.

"She's right, not the time or the place right now..." Alex said and sighed, "…now where's my fucking drink? I need one!" she asked and Asher quickly jumped up.

"I'm on it!" he said as he ran back to the bar and got drinks for the 4 of them.

Piper walked back to Alex with two champagne flutes full of champagne and Alex remembered it was time for the toast. Everyone in the group stood up and Piper handed one glass to Alex, everyone else already had theirs since they had been waiting on the two women to join them at the bonfire.

Piper and Cal both said separate, short but sweet speeches and everyone cheered, wished them a happy anniversary and threw back the delicious champagne they were holding.

After they picked up all of the champagne flutes, Piper handed out the blankets, saving one for her and Alex to share. She sat down in her chair next to the brunette and stretched out their blanket. Alex smiled and put her hand on Pipers thigh under the blanket. _'It's way too hard sitting this close to her and not touching her,'_ she thought.

They sat by the bonfire talking, laughing, and drinking for a while and then slowly everyone started going inside for the night or going back to their hotel. A little while later it was only Piper's parents, Cal, Neri, Martin, Asher, Alex, and Piper left sitting out by the bonfire.

Piper's parents stood up and announced it was time for them to head to bed, "Thank you for a wonderful evening! You both are so sweet, it wouldn't have happened without either of you," Carol said as she hugged Cal then Piper.

"Thank you both, it was a wonderful evening," Pipers dad said as he started to walk towards the house.

He stopped as he walked by Alex, "it was nice meeting you, Alex," he said with a straight face as he stared at the brunette.

Alex stood up, "You too, sir, thank you for letting me join you on your big night!"

Piper's dad nodded and turned to walk towards the house.

"Jesus Christ that guy scares the shit out of me every single time he looks my direction!" Martin whispered as Alex sat back down in her chair.

She laughed and nodded her head in agreeance with everything Martin just said. There was something about Piper's dad that made Alex very nervous every time he was around.

"Well, I'd better go tuck your father in, you know he doesn't like waiting! Thank you both again for everything, it was absolutely perfect!" Carol said as she waved goodbye to her two children.

"It was so nice meeting you, Alex! Enjoy those books as long as you need them and feel free to come exchange them whenever you want," she concluded with a smile.

Alex stood up and hugged Piper's mom, "Thank you Mrs. Chapman, looking forward to seeing you again!"

Piper smiled and went back to her seat next to her girlfriend.

"Well, I guess that means I get to come back, that's a good sign!" the brunette said as they both sat down next to each other.

"She really likes you, I can tell…you're quite the charmer!" Piper said, gazing at Alex with a smile and grabbing her hand.

Cal and Neri had taken a walk down the beach after saying goodnight to their parents so finally it was the four friends sitting around the campfire all alone and they suddenly felt as if they could be exactly who they wanted to be for the first time that night.

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Don't forget to let me know what you guys think so far or if you have any ideas you'd like for me to throw in! Xoxo


	14. Chapter 14

I am reposting this chapter because I wanted to update you guys on where this story is at! I am working on finishing it right now! Will still take some time but I promise it's coming sooner rather than later. I am trying to finish it all up at once so I can post the last chapters together since I made you guys wait so long for an update

I am only posting to Fanfic from now on just so everybody is on the same page. Didn't like upsetting some of you and that wasn't fair since you all have been with me since the beginning, so I apologize!

Don't forget I have a Twitter account for my fanfic, vausemeplease go follow me and let me know you're a fan so I can follow you back and make sure to keep you updated. I also re/post random Vauseman and OITNB stuff on there, too. I already have a lot of you guys following me and yall are amazing!

Thanks for being so patient with me and this story!

Love and light! xoxo

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The four of them sat outside by the bonfire for the next few hours enjoying each other's company and enjoying feeling comfortable enough to be who they really are. They all, subconsciously, formed a strong friendship between the four of them that night sitting by the ocean. Somewhere in the early morning hours while it was still dark outside, the boys decided it was time for them to head upstairs and go to bed.

"Well, I guess we'll let you two get to catching up some more!" Martin said with a wink as he stared Alex and Piper down.

Alex laughed and kissed Piper on the cheek with a smile.

"Yeah, it's way past your bedtime, you old man," Piper joked to Martin.

"It's like 3 in the morning! You better watch it blondie or I'll tell your girlfriend about the pork chop story…" Martin said with wide eyes and immediately got a horrible glare from Piper.

Alex looked back at Piper with a smile, "What's this pork chop story he's talking about?!"

Piper shook her head, "it's nothing!" as she kept her glare with Martin, "It's nothing at all, just a stupid drunken night…"

Martin laughed and shook his head at Piper.

"But I love stupid drunken night stories! Come on babe, tell me," Alex joked with the blonde but she wasn't budging. Piper shook her head side to side and smiled at her.

"She must really like you if she doesn't want you to know that story," Martin said, still laughing.

"I'll get it out of her one day," Alex said confidently back to Martin.

"Oh I'm sure you will! I'm sure you will," Martin said with a smile as he and Asher stood up from their chairs.

"Well, ladies it's been great but I need to get this one to bed so he won't be cranky on our drive back in the morning!" Asher joked as he put his arm around Martins waist.

Martin glanced at Asher and put his arm around his back, "He's right, he's only known me a week but he learned one of the most important lessons about me early!" and everyone laughed.

"Good night honey," Martin said as he leaned down and kissed Piper on her cheek, "you did good! It was a wonderful party."

Piper smiled, "thank you, thank you both for coming I really appreciate it! I know Alex loved you both being here, too."

"Night, boss!" Martin said with a small laugh as he high fived Alex.

"Get out of here already!" she joked with a smile as they walked away, towards the house.

Suddenly it hit both Piper and Alex that they were all alone outside for the first time that night and they couldn't have been happier. They looked at each other and smiled, both knowing the other was thinking the exact same thing.

"Come here," Alex said and motioned for Piper to sit on her lap.

Piper didn't even hesitate before standing up with a smile. There was something fluid about her motions whenever she was around Alex. It was as if every movement was already planned out and she knew what to do, their connection was so strong they both felt as if they had known each other for years. This was something nether of them had experienced before so it scared them both a little, but they happily embraced their newfound relationship and looked forward to a future together.

"You know," she said as she sat down on Alex's lap and wrapped her arms around her neck, "the sunrise will make its appearance in just a few short hours," Piper said with a smile, staring deep into Alex's eyes.

Alex wrapped her arms around Piper's waist, "Oh, really? I've heard the sunrise is pretty incredible out here," she joked with a sideways grin.

"Yeah I mean it's definitely the best view in the world, second to mine right now," Piper said as she continued her stare at Alex and smiled.

It was hard for Piper to _not_ stare at Alex anytime she was around her. Her absolutely striking good looks blew the blonde away and she couldn't believe Alex wanted to be with her. It made Piper wonder about how good looking the girls that Alex had been with in her past were. She made a mental note to bring it up at some point in the future.

Alex leaned forward and kissed Piper with a smile.

She loved the way she could tell she made Piper feel; nervous yet excited all at the same time. She could feel Pipers heart race every time they got close together and Alex thrived off of that feeling. Knowing the blonde wanted to be that close to her as much as she felt the same way was a rush to Alex and all she wanted was more and more.

Alex was used to getting sweet compliments from beautiful women, that wasn't anything new. There was always somebody trying to sweet-talk their way into Alex's bedroom but Piper was completely different from everyone she had met her entire life. She had never felt this instant connection before, she had never craved for more and more from anybody in her life. Sure, her feelings towards Carmen came pretty close, but they were nothing compared to what she already felt for Piper. Alex craved to please the blonde and knowing that scared her a little bit. She was way more vulnerable with Piper than she had ever been with anybody else, but something about her made Alex feel safe and she knew she wouldn't hurt her. She completely trusted Piper and she hadn't been able to say that about any other romantic relationship she had ever had.

They were both pretty sure everyone was in the house and asleep but they didn't want to chance it so they ended their kiss before it went any further. Something neither of them really wanted to do.

"Didn't your mom say there's some "perfect" spot to watch the sunrise from? I wanna watch it with you," Alex admitted with flushed cheeks as she twirled her fingers with Pipers.

Piper stared at Alex and smiled, completely smitten by her girlfriend in this moment. It never took much for Piper to feel this way for Alex, but when it hit her, it hit her hard. She couldn't believe this perfect person did everything she had done that day for her, including meeting her closed-minded parents and making a wonderful impression on them. Piper finally gave in to what she had wanted to do all night and kissed Alex with the intent of never stopping, completely forgetting about her entire family being in a house not far from where they were.

Alex gave in, too and before she knew it her hands were caressing Pipers hair and their hearts were racing. Piper pulled herself closer to Alex, closing any gap there might have been. They melted together in that moment and neither of them wanted it to end.

Piper, as usual, had to pull back after a few minutes to catch her breath, something she was finding hard to catch every time she kissed Alex.

Alex had begun to catch on to what was happening and smiled at Piper, obviously out of breath but still as close to Alex as she could be.

"We better stop before my entire family gets a show they didn't buy tickets to…" Piper said taking a deep breath and Alex sighed.

"True, it was almost too hard for me to stop right then," Alex admitted.

Piper kissed Alex once more and stood up, knowing that would help then from giving in at the moment.

Alex groaned, not wanting Piper to get up but eventually agreed it was for the best. There was nothing more that she wanted right then and there than Piper but she didn't want to make a bad impression on her family either. She had tried hard all night to make a good impression on all of them and was proud of herself for doing a good job at that. Alex was never one to care about other's opinions about her but yet again, there was something different about Piper that broke Alex down and made her care about things she never cared about before. It was as if Alex's heart had truly been opened now, because of the blonde, and she never experienced these feelings before. It was a whole new world and Alex couldn't wait to experience more with Piper.

"Come on, I'll show you our super-secret sunrise spot," Piper said as she put her hand out to help Alex stand up.

Alex stood up and didn't let go of Pipers hand as they started walking down the beach.

"So where is this at? How do I know you're not about to murder me and dump my body in the middle of the ocean?!" Alex joked and squeezed Pipers hand.

"I guess you'll never know!" Piper played back and Alex laughed.

"I'm just kidding," she said and stopped walking to face the brunette, "you're too cute to kill, I'd miss looking at you for sure!" Piper joked and kissed Alex's perfectly plump lips.

Alex shook her head and laughed, completely wrapped around the blonde's finger in that moment. Piper could always tell when Alex couldn't get enough of her and this, especially, was one of those moments. Alex's cheeks looked flushed and she always had a sideways smile when she looked at the blonde. That was the "tell" and Piper loved seeing it.

They walked down the beach for a couple miles, walking away from everyone back at the house and feeling more and more independent with each step they took. Neither of them let go of the others hand as they walked and they stopped ever so often to steal a kiss here and there.

They walked up to a wooden pier that was about 20 yards long and seemed to go on forever, towering over the ocean.

"So this is the magical spot?" Alex asked as they walked onto the pier.

"This is the magical spot," Piper said with a smile, looking around at the ocean.

Piper and her family would come here periodically to watch the sunrise or the sunset together. There were several times Piper came to this spot all on her own, taking in the beauty by herself and contemplating life choices as best as she knew how to, by herself. She appreciated so much what Alex had shown her that night at the park so she was thrilled to share a piece of her own history with Alex. There was something special about sharing a piece of your childhood with a significant other and Piper was ecstatic that Alex wanted to join her to watch the sunrise.

"I have spent a lot of hours on this very spot!" Piper said as they got to the edge of the pier and sat down, their feet dangling over the edge of the pier into the ocean.

Alex sat next to her and wrapped her hands about her girlfriend's waist, she could tell this was an important place to Piper and was grateful that she wanted to share it with her.

"I really love this, it's so calm and peaceful out here," Alex said, looking off towards the ocean, as if to look off towards the edge of the world.

"Yeah, I can't tell you how many times I sat right here and just thought about life, you know? It's definitely one of my favorite places to be in the world," Piper admitted.

"What would you think about?" Alex asked, trying to get to know Piper as much as she could in this vulnerable moment.

Piper sighed, "Oh, you know just the typical stuff…dreaming about my future, stuff like that."

"Did you ever dream about me?" Alex joked and kissed the side of Pipers neck.

"Actually I did!" the blonde said and turned to look at Alex.

"As any typical girl, you dream up this perfect person that will come save you one day...this strong, stunning, sweet, caring person that you build up in your head and is never exactly what you imagined them to be, you know? Except I am one of the lucky ones, you really are everything I imaged you to be," Piper said and kissed Alex on the lips.

"You are pretty perfect yourself, kid," Alex replied.

They sat at the edge of the pier for the next few hours, cuddling, sharing stories and kisses ever so often and waiting to finally see the sun peak from beyond the edge of the ocean.

At one point Alex looked down at Piper, who had laid down on the deck and rested her head on Alex's lap, and noticed that she drifted off to sleep. There was something about the blonde when she slept that Alex could not get enough of. She looked so peaceful and seamless that Alex couldn't take her eyes off her. All she wanted to do was wrap her up even more and kiss her but she didn't want to wake the blonde either, it was tough for her to sit still and not do anything. After a while she looked up to see a little bit of a light orange-pink color coming up slowly from the horizon line.

She shook the blonde gently and whispered, "Pipes…"

Piper stretched out and cuddled closer to Alex, not wanting to sit up from her comfortable position.

Alex let out a small laugh, "Piper, it's the sunrise, sit up babe."

Piper groaned, not sure whether she really wanted to watch the sunrise or lay there on Alex's lap still. She eventually decided to sit up and not miss this moment with her girlfriend.

They both stood up and leaned against the railing of the pier. Piper stood as close as she could to Alex and leaned her head on Alex's shoulder.

This wasn't the first time she watched the sunrise with someone other than her family but it was the first time she did with someone she felt so strongly for. There was a force felt between them that neither of them ever wanted to break, it just felt natural for them to be together and they both felt it.

"Wow," Alex said, staring into the sunrise, "that is seriously so beautiful."

"Right? I swear it gets better and better every time I watch it." Piper replied.

"Well, that's because you're watching it with me now!" Alex joked with a smile.

Piper laughed, "You're right, you're my favorite person in the world, I wouldn't want to share this with anybody else now," she said as she turned, facing the brunette, and kissed her as the sun rose over the ocean behind her.

Alex leaned back, "wait, I'm your favorite person in the world?!" she asked with a smile.

"Don't get cocky!" Piper said as she pulled Alex closer and resumed the kiss Alex had ended abruptly.

Alex laughed and gave in to finish their perfect kiss. She had never done something like this with anyone and she realized in this moment she'd never want to do stuff like this with anyone but Piper. She wanted to share everything special with only her from now on.

After a while they slowly made it back to the house and back into Pipers bedroom. Alex couldn't help but get butterflies at the thought of getting to spend the night with her girlfriend.

"Come be my little spoon," Alex joked as Piper made her way to the bed after brushing her teeth.

Piper climbed in with a smile and made her way over to Alex, fitting perfectly into her side and she knew right then and there that she didn't want to experience that night with anyone else ever again, only Alex. She had loved every second of that day since the brunette showed up and she was so thankful for everything she had done for her that day.

"Hey, I'm proud of you," Alex said as she leaned forward and kissed the back of Pipers neck as they lay there, melted together, her hand across Pipers side.

Piper turned over to face her girlfriend, "Yeah?" she said with a smile.

"Yeah…" Alex said and pushed a strand of hair behind the blonde's ear.

"You put in a ton of hard work all for your parents and I am just really proud of you, it was a great night…"

"It was a great night because you were here, Al," Piper said and leaned forward to kiss the brunette for the thousandth time that day.

It was light outside now but neither of them cared, they were so unbelievably happy to be together in this moment; to be in bed together, wrapped up in each other, neither of them wanted anything more than what they already had, each other.

Piper tried to lean back to break up the kiss but Alex didn't let her. After a while Piper had to catch her breath again and Alex sighed with a sly smile, knowing she had something to do with it.

"It's not funny," Piper said with a smile, staring deep into Alex's perfect green eyes while still trying to catch her breath.

"It's a little funny," Alex said with a laugh.

Piper smiled and shook her head, "You take my breath away, what can I say."

"I've been told that before!" Alex joked with a loud laugh.

Piper playfully pushed her, "Shut up, I'm sure you have and I don't wanna hear about that…"

Alex's smile went away as she was suddenly hit with the thought of Carmen. She wanted to tell Piper about her but decided to not ruin the special moment they just had. She knew she wanted to tell Piper at some point though, she needed her to know that this was not something she did all the time. This was completely out of character for Alex and she loved it, she loved knowing it was all because of Piper.

They were both asleep before they wanted to be, but they couldn't hold their eyes open any longer. It had been a long day for both of them and staying up all night did not help that at all. They both slept, cuddled together until the early-afternoon hours and Piper was the first one to wake up.

She rolled over slowly to look at the time on her phone, not wanting to wake up her girlfriend but knowing it had to be early afternoon on that Sunday. She rolled back over towards Alex and decided to slowly wake her up.

She kissed Alex a few times on her cheek, her ear, her neck, "Al, it's time to wake up…I think everybody has already left…" Piper said whispering.

Alex didn't budge and Piper smiled, knowing she'd have to step up her game to get the brunette to wake up.

"Okay, I'm getting in the shower and really wanted some company, too bad you're still asleep…" Piper said with a grin, directly in front of Alex's face.

A small smile formed on Alex's mouth, her eyes still shut and Piper knew she had won that one.

She finally opened her eyes and grabbed her glasses from the nightstand to put them on.

"That's not fair, that was below the belt…" Alex said with a grin while stretching.

"Well, you wouldn't wake up! I couldn't go another second without those beautiful eyes so I had to pull out all the stops," Piper said with a smile as she slid closer to the brunette and twirled a piece of her long hair.

"Everybody is already gone?" Alex asked, wrapping her arms around the blonde.

"I think so, they all had planned to leave early this morning, probably about the time we fell asleep," Piper replied with a laugh.

"So….we're alone?" Alex said with a sly grin and raised one of her eyebrows.

Neither of them said another word as they picked up right where they left off just a few hours ago, when neither of them could hold their eyes open any longer. They each took turns making sure the other was more than satisfied, the friction felt between them was absolutely electric with their vulnerable and sweaty bodies each taking a turn of control.

A little while later they both lay in Pipers bed, out of breath, just like the day before when Alex had showed up and they couldn't hold back any longer. Except this time was different, it was more special, if that was even possible. They were more in sync and every move was exactly what the other desired in that moment.

They slowly got out of bed, got dressed, and Alex helped Piper pack everything up. They got downstairs and saw that they were in fact by themselves, something they were both relieved about after what they had just done in Pipers bedroom. Alex had learned that it was hard for Piper to keep quiet once she was in the moment and turned on and Alex loved that about her girlfriend. She decided to make it her goal from now on to get Piper to that point as soon as possible from now on, knowing that it would in turn, incite the feelings for Alex, too.

Alex helped Piper load up her car, lock down the house, and eventually they were on the road, back to the city. Piper drove and Alex stared out the window, constantly touching Piper somehow; grabbing her hand or her thigh or kissing her wherever she could reach her. Piper liked to play around and jokingly duck out of the way when she saw a kiss coming from Alex; all that did in return was force the brunette to try even harder to deliver her next kiss. Piper didn't have much room to duck away and didn't want to miss anymore kisses from Alex so she gave in and let Alex steal any kiss she wanted on the drive home. Which in turn brought a smile to Pipers face and butterflies to her stomach.

"You know, I have a really hot date tomorrow night that I'm pretty damn excited about," Alex joked as she turned to look at Piper while playing with her hand.

Piper grinned, "Oh really?" she said sarcastically, "What's the plan for that by the way, we never discussed it…"

"I've got it babe, I'll figure it out. Don't worry about it!" Alex replied.

Piper tilted her head with a smile, "You don't have to do that, we can both figure it out together…"

"I know! But I asked you on the date, I want to do it all myself. All you have to do is show up and look gorgeous, which isn't hard for you to do at all," Alex said as she leaned over and gave the blonde a quick peck on the cheek.

Piper smiled as Alex kissed her and shook her head.

"Alright fine, but I get to do the next one," she said quickly.

"How do you know there's gonna be a next one?!" Alex said with a laugh.

Piper glared at Alex as she came to a stop at a red light and they both smiled.

"I'm just kidding…" Alex said as she placed another kiss on Pipers cheek. She never got tired of kissing her while she felt Pipers smile. That was one of the best feelings in the world, kissing someone and being able to feel them smile at the same time.

Alex reached for her phone in her pocket and checked all of her missed texts and calls. She was distracted and completely forgot about checking her phone while she was in the Hamptons with Piper.

"Wow, Nicky has been blowing my phone up," Alex said with a small laugh.

"You can go spend some time with her tonight if you want to, it's fine," Piper replied as she drove down the street.

Alex glanced over at the blonde and shook her head, "You know that's the last thing I want to do tonight…fuck, don't tell her I said that," she concluded with a laugh.

Piper laughed too, "I'm serious! Go hang out with her if you want to."

"I don't want to! I want to be with you right now…" Alex answered, still staring at Piper.

Piper tried to hold back her smile but it was useless, "Good! That was a test, and you passed," she said with a sly grin.

Alex smiled and leaned over the console, as close as she could get to the blonde, and kissed her a few times on her cheek, "and what do I get for passing my test?"

Piper's eyes widened and she laughed, "You get to spend the night with me! Isn't that what you've always wanted!" she said playfully with a laugh, causing the brunette to sigh and lean back over to sit straight up in her seat.

"I was hoping for something a little more physical but I'll take what I can get," Alex answered with a sly grin, knowing that remark would cause the blonde's mind to race ferociously.

They decided to go straight to Alex's place first so she could get some clothes. Alex smiled as she walked up the stairs to her apartment, excited about how incredible everything was going for her and Piper at the moment. They were completely over the drama of what happened the previous weekend and both of them couldn't be more relieved about that.

They got to Piper's apartment a little while later and unloaded everything from the weekend. Once the car was emptied out they were exhausted, still needing to catch up on sleep from pulling an all-nighter the previous night so they decided to stay in for dinner and order a pizza. They sat on the couch in Piper's apartment, cuddled together, watching TV while eating their pizza.

"Can't believe you watch this shit! It's trash!" Alex said to Piper as she stared at the TV watching the newest episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

"It is definitely trash, I'm not disagreeing with you on that! But it's entertaining trash…" Piper said while not removing her gaze from the screen. They finished their dinner and Alex had had enough of the TV show, all she wanted to do was go to bed with the blonde wrapped around her. She took control over the situation, something she was really good at, especially anytime the possible outcome was sex.

"Come on babe, turn it off…" Alex said while reaching for the remote.

"No wait just a few more minutes, it's almost over!" Piper snapped back.

Alex smiled, shook her head, and decided to up the game a little bit. She absolutely loved knowing her next move would win her this little argument.

"Okay, you finish your trashy TV show and I'm going to go shower, it's so hot in here…" Alex said as she stood up and took her shirt off, throwing it towards the TV to get the blonde's attention.

Piper slowly glanced over at Alex, standing in her running shorts she had changed into and her dark purple sports bra. There was something about the 'sporty' look on Alex that immediately turned Piper on. Alex chuckled softly, knowing her plan was working, and walked towards the blonde sitting on the couch. She leaned down and kissed Piper who had suddenly lost all interest in her TV show.

"Are you done watching TV yet?" Alex whispered softly, a few inches from Pipers lips.

Piper continued her gaze at the brunette, absolutely entranced by her in this moment and all she wanted to do was rip off everything else she had on.

"You are sneaky," Piper finally said after she took a deep breath and snapped back from her gaze.

"And you are irresistible when you're turned on," Alex replied, standing straight up and grabbing the blonde's hand to get her to stand up.

Piper grabbed her hand and stood up, "How do you know when I'm turned on?!" she asked with flushed cheeks and still couldn't keep her gaze off of Alex's perfectly toned body. Every inch of her was perfect to Piper and she couldn't not stare at Alex while she stood in front of her like this.

Alex laughed, "it's pretty obvious kid…you're sweating for no reason and you've licked your lips like 10 times since I took my shirt off…" she concluded with a smile as she fiddled with the frame of her glasses.

Alex knew she had this effect on anyone anytime she removed an article of clothing, it was a gift she had her whole life. Even changing in the locker room when she was in high school she noticed the stares and smiled every time. She was thankful for the appreciation and worked hard for her toned body. Having Piper appreciate it so much though brought it to a whole new level. Alex never felt the way she does with Piper about anyone else and having her feel the same way about Alex was hard for Alex to comprehend. Anytime Piper looked at Alex with her lustful eyes it sent chills throughout Alex's entire body, a feeling she hope never went away.

Piper blushed and looked away, having to break her stare at her girlfriend's perfect body.

"What can I say, I reaaaaally like you in a sports bra and those glasses don't help either," Piper said, still blushing.

"Really? My glasses?" Alex asked with a smile, knowing what her glasses did to Piper, too.

"Would you just wipe that stupid smile off your face and kiss me already?!" Piper blurted out with a hint of exaggeration.

Alex didn't waste another second, before she knew it there were clothes thrown throughout Piper's living room and they were both laying on the couch with a blanket covering them while Piper tried desperately to catch her breath.

Alex smiled at Piper, always out of breath anytime they kissed or messed around. She couldn't help but to kiss her again and again, knowing the only reason she was out of breath was Alex's fault and Alex absolutely loved that.

"I don't know what it is about you, but you're the only person that has ever made me weak the way you do," Piper said after a few minutes, rubbing her hands slowly up and down Alex's arms.

Alex grinned and shifted her body weight, so she was now laying sideways on the couch while Piper laid out straight.

"There's something about you that makes me weak too, I've never felt this way before…" Alex admitted, staring deep into the blonde's beautiful blue eyes.

"Nobody has ever made _you_ weak before? I don't believe that…" Piper replied, finding it hard to believe that her perfect girlfriend never had anybody as perfect as herself in her life.

"I'm serious Pipes, you're the only one that I've ever felt this way about. All this stuff I've done for you, the way I feel…its not typical behavior for me...I've only been in a relationship once and even I wouldn't technically call it a relationship, she was special but we didn't put a title on it and it didn't end very well…" Alex admitted to the blonde and couldn't believe she was actually telling someone other than Nicky about Carmen.

Piper stared at her girlfriend and ran her fingers through her perfectly long and smooth dark hair.

"Tell me about her…"

Alex stared at Piper for a few seconds with a questioned look on her face.

"You really want to know about her?" Alex asked, almost shocked that Piper was curious about her one and only "relationship".

"I want to know everything about you and I can tell she had a big impact on you, so yes, I want to know about it," Piper replied with a straight face.

Alex took a deep breath, "Well, her name is Carmen, we met at an event where she modeled for this fundraiser…"

Piper cut her off, "Your ex-girlfriend is a MODEL?! You've got to be fucking kidding me," she said, looking defeated.

"Okay, you need to relax! She wasn't a full-time model, she was just doing it for a fundraiser…"

Piper rolled her eyes and sighed, "Continue…"

Alex smiled and kissed her adorable girlfriend on the cheek, "Anyways, she was there for me through a lot of shitty things that happened in my life, it was like she showed up at the perfect time you know. We never were exclusive and never labeled it but we fell pretty hard for each other. It lasted a while, almost 2 years I think, then all of a sudden one day she gave me an ultimatum and told me that she wanted to take it to the next level and move in together and all of this stuff…I just wasn't ready for that so it ended right then and there…"

"Wow…" Piper said after a few seconds of registering everything, "and you haven't seen her since?"

Alex thought back for a few seconds and realized she had seen her just a little over a week ago, the same night she met Piper.

"I actually did see her randomly on the street, the same night I met you…" Alex said and grabbed Pipers hand. She could tell Piper had a hint of a jealousy side and felt the need to reassure her about her current feelings for the blonde.

"Wait a minute, you saw your ex-model-girlfriend the same night you met me?" Piper asked, sitting up on the couch and using the blanket to cover herself.

"Yeah," Alex laughed, "me and Nicky were walking down the street, headed to the bar and I saw her going into a club, it was crazy…"

"Did you talk to her?" Piper asked.

"She has a fiancé, Pipes," Alex replied quickly.

"Oh."

"Look, I did have feelings for her back when we me and her were together, I didn't realize it back then because I was so immature and selfish but looking back, I did. But none of that matters now because I have you…what I felt for her is nothing compared to how I feel about you, I promise," Alex admitted and sat up to kiss the blonde gently on her cheek.

Piper believed every word Alex said and smiled. She kissed her back, on the lips this time, and let herself get carried away with Alex's perfect kisses once again.

Suddenly their front door swung open and Martin walked into the apartment. He immediately noticed the two women on the couch and gasped.

"What the fuck is going on here!" he shouted with a loud laugh, looking around the living room and seeing clothes thrown everywhere.

Piper had gotten so caught up in Alex she had completely forgotten about Martin coming home soon.

Alex threw her head back in laughter and Piper blushed and yelled, "Get out of here!" back at Martin.

"Hey this is my apartment too, bitch!" Martin said with a laugh as he sat down on the chair in the living room, right next to the girls on the couch.

Alex shook her head and laughed again while Piper became livid, "So you're just going to sit there while we lay on the couch, naked?!" she blurted out while using her hands for emphasis.

"Honey there's nothing that your body has that I haven't seen before, trust me!" he said with another laugh.

"I thought you were gay?!" Alex asked with a smile.

"And how do you think I found out I was gay?! I took one look at a naked woman and said NO THANK YOU!" he blurted out and he and Alex howled with laughter. Alex laughed so hard she had to wipe a few tears from her eyes. She glanced over at Piper and noticed she wasn't laughing, she was desperately trying to hold back a smile though.

"Aw, come on babe, he's just playing around! Get out Martin while we run to her bedroom," Alex said to both of them.

"Fine, but I want that couch Lysol'd like a mother fucker! And next time keep your sexy-time in the bedroom please!" he said with a laugh as he stood up and walked in to his bedroom, slamming the door shut.

Alex laughed and shook her head, "we really should have thought about him coming home a little more, that's my fault…"

"Yeah, it's totally your fault, you shouldn't be so sexy...standing there in your shorts and your sports bra," Piper replied with a smile and kissed the dark haired woman on her cheek.

They both stood up, grabbed their clothes, and ran to Pipers bedroom with smiles and a little bit of laughter.


End file.
